Rafael L. Espinal Jr. (born June 30, 1984) is an American politician and non-profit executive. 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 ...
, he represented the
37th district of the
New York City Council, which includes portions of
Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brownsville,
Bushwick,
Crown Heights,
Cypress Hills, and
East New York
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough li ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
On January 26, 2020, he resigned from the City Council in favor of a job with the
Freelancers Union
Freelancers Union is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that provides advocacy, programming and curated insurance benefits for freelancers through partnerships. The organization dessiminates information through monthly meetings. Rafa ...
.
Early life and education
Espinal has lived in Brooklyn all his life, while his parents are from the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
. He was born in 1984, and is the third of six children. He was raised in
Cypress Hills, attending and graduating from New York City public schools, P.S. 108, I.S. 302, and Franklin K. Lane High School. Espinal attended
Queens College and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.
Career
Espinal first worked as an
adult literacy
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...
teacher.
Espinal entered public service as an aide to City Councilmember
Erik Martin Dilan
Erik Martin Dilan (born May 11, 1974) is an American politician. A Democrat, Dilan represents the 54th district of the New York Assembly which comprises the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York, Ocean Hill, and ...
, ultimately serving as his chief of staff.
In the
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential ...
, he was the only New York City Councilmember to endorse
Bernie Sanders.
He endorsed him again for the
2020 primaries, the first City Councilmember to do so.
In 2017, Espinal was named one of ''
Time Out New York
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
''
's "New Yorkers of the Year", largely in recognition of his advocacy in repealing the
New York City Cabaret Law, enforcement of which disproportionately targeted LGBTQ and ethnic minority venues and creating the city's Office of Nightlife, dedicated to supporting DIY art spaces, music venues, bars and restaurants.
In 2019, Espinal ran in the
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
for
New York City Public Advocate
The office of New York City Public Advocate (President of the City Council) is a citywide elected position in New York City, which is first in line to succeed the mayor. The office serves as a direct link between the electorate and city government ...
, following
Letitia James's victory in her race for
New York State Attorney General
The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...
. He came in 7th place in a crowded field of 17 candidates, won by fellow Brooklyn City Councilmember
Jumaane Williams
Jumaane D. Williams ( ; born May 11, 1976) is an American activist and politician who has served as the New York City Public Advocate since 2019. He is a former member of the New York City Council from the 45th district, which includes East Fla ...
.
Espinal, facing term limits to another term in the City Council, announced plans to run for
Brooklyn Borough President in the 2021 election. The seat will be vacant as current Borough President,
Eric Adams
Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022.
Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York ...
, faces term limits himself. He dropped out of the race in January 2020, and subsequently resigned from the Council entirely.
New York State Assembly
In his first campaign, Espinal won the open 54th district seat in the
New York State Assembly in a
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
held on September 13, 2011.
The seat was left vacant after
Darryl Towns
Darryl C. Towns (born July 21, 1961) was the Commissioner and CEO of New York State Homes and Community Renewal agency. He is a former representative of the 54th New York State Assembly, Assembly District in the New York State Legislature, whi ...
resigned from the post in order to take a position with Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...
's administration. The assembly district represents parts of
Bushwick,
East New York
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough li ...
,
Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Cypress Hills, and
Cityline
''CityLine'' is a Canadian talk show and lifestyle television program hosted by Tracy Moore produced for the Citytv network at Toronto flagship station CITY-DT. Each show has a theme that changes daily. These include "Around the House", "Fami ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
Espinal had endorsements from the
Brooklyn Democratic Party, the
Republican Party and the
Conservative Party of New York State. In a tight race, Espinal (46%) defeated Jesus Gonzalez (35%) running on the
Working Families Party
The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...
line and Deidra Towns (19%) running on her party platform, "Community First".
In 2012, Espinal was named one of City & State's "New York City Rising Stars: 40 Under 40" for his work as New York State Assemblyman.
New York City Council
In 2013, Espinal opted to leave the state Assembly to run for the
New York City Council to succeed
Erik Martin Dilan
Erik Martin Dilan (born May 11, 1974) is an American politician. A Democrat, Dilan represents the 54th district of the New York Assembly which comprises the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York, Ocean Hill, and ...
, and won the primary and general to take the seat in 2014.
In 2014 Mayor
Bill de Blasio announced an affordable housing plan that would create over 3,000 units of affordable housing in the
Cypress Hills,
East New York
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough li ...
, and
Ocean Hill portions of his district. Espinal used the opportunity to advocate for funding to address all of the social and infrastructure issues his community had experienced for decades. While facing opposition from a citywide advocacy group, Espinal was able to secure what some have called the most comprehensive rezoning plan in the City of New York, over a quarter of a billion dollars to address unemployment, crumbling infrastructure, and affordable housing issues. ''
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 d ...
'' endorsed Espinal's move and stated that "Espinal did right by his constituents."
In 2017 Espinal introduced and passed a bill calling for the full repeal of the
New York City Cabaret Law, a regulation introduced in 1926 and often called racist, homophobic and authoritarian by its opponents.
In 2019 Espinal passed legislation requiring all New York City buildings to install solar panels or green roofs as part of New York City's "Green New Deal" to decrease carbon emissions and build green infrastructure.
On January 26, 2020, he officially resigned from the City Council to take on a job with the
Freelancers Union
Freelancers Union is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that provides advocacy, programming and curated insurance benefits for freelancers through partnerships. The organization dessiminates information through monthly meetings. Rafa ...
.
Election history
References
External links
Espinal - New York City Council (official site)Espinal for Brooklyn (campaign website)@RLEspinal (official twitter)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinal, Rafael
Living people
American politicians of Dominican Republic descent
Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly
New York City Council members
Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state)
21st-century American politicians
Politicians from Brooklyn
People from East New York, Brooklyn
1984 births