Rubén Díaz Jr. (born April 26, 1973) is an American politician who served as the 13th borough president of The Bronx in New York City from 2009 to 2021. He was elected in April 2009 and reelected in 2013 and 2017. He previously served 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 ...

Early life and education

Díaz's parents moved from Puerto Rico to New York, where he was born and received his primary and secondary education in the Bronx. He graduated first from LaGuardia Community College, then

Lehman College Lehman College is a public college in the Bronx borough of New York City. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within CUNY in September 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehma ...

with a bachelor's degree in political theory. Díaz's father, Rubén Díaz, is a former

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 ...

man and a former member of 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 ...

Career

New York State Assembly

Díaz was elected to the

at the age of twenty-three, which made him the youngest person elected to the legislative body since Theodore Roosevelt. While in the Assembly, Díaz sponsored, co-sponsored and passed legislation addressing

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

, public records access,

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

and overtime pay, environmental protection,Bill A01577
New York State Assembly.Bill A01578
New York State Assembly.Bill A01579
New York State Assembly. equitable labor standards,

insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. According to the ...

, tenants rights, transparency and disclosure in all environmental impact statements, pedestrian safety,

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

safety, protection from tax preparers, Senior Citizens rights, wider access to the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) Program, and the regulation and accountability of gas and electric companies. A member of the Assembly Education Committee, Díaz has been outspoken on educational issues. He has addressed the

International Democratic Education Conference The International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) is an annual academic and youth conference hosted by a variety of schools and organizations in cities around the world. History IDEC was first held in 1993, and has been held in all sub ...

(IDEC) and praised the Campaign for Fiscal Equity's (CFE) efforts to protect the constitutional right to a basic education. In 2003, when Governor George Pataki sought to cut the State's higher education budget, Díaz was a vocal critic of this plan and, together with other state legislators, was able to restore funding for some of the Governor's proposed cuts. Díaz has legislated on behalf of Brownfield Cleanup and Green Roof Tax Abatement, worked to restore the Bronx River which runs through the 85th Assembly District, and opposed environmental racism. In September 2007, he was named one of ''

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

s "40 under 40" for being a young influential member of New York City politics.

Amadou Diallo

On February 4, 1999,

Amadou Diallo In the early hours of February 4, 1999, an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean student named Amadou Diallo (born September 2, 1975) was fired upon with 41 rounds and shot a total of 19 times by four New York City Police Department plainclothes office ...

, a young African immigrant, was killed by four New York City police officers who fired 41 unanswered rounds at him. Since the shooting occurred in his South Bronx district, Díaz became an advocate and organizer for the Diallo family. Through a series of public appearances, hearings, press conferences and massive public demonstrations, Díaz led a citywide protest which drew national media attention. Díaz marched together with Rev. Al Sharpton, the Rev.

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

, actress Susan Sarandon, dozens of rabbis and other clergy, and was arrested for his peaceful protest. As a result, Díaz became known for his support of civil and human rights.

The Rainbow Rebels

In summer 2008, Díaz became a founding member of a progressive civic and political group known as the "Rainbow Rebels", who achieved sudden and widespread popularity throughout the Bronx County of New York. On August 22, 2008, the Rainbow Rebels made their first official announcement: Díaz joined with two of his Assembly colleagues Carl Heastie and Michael Benjamin, both Democratic African Americans, and with Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz of Riverdale and his powerful Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, to promote the candidacy of Elizabeth Taylor for a Civil Court judgeship. On September 9, 2008, Taylor won the Democratic primary for the judgeship, despite opposition from the Bronx County Leader, Jose Rivera, and the Bronx political machine known as "County". On September 28, 2008, at the Bronx County Committee meeting, the Rainbow Rebels won another significant victory by replacing the Bronx County Leader José Rivera with Assemblyman Carl Heastie.

Bronx Borough President

On February 18, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Bronx Borough president

Adolfo Carrión Jr. Adolfo Carrión Jr. (born March 6, 1961) is an American businessman and former elected official from City Island, New York, City Island. He has three sisters Elizabeth Carrión-Stevens, Damaris Carrión-Harris and Lizette Carrión. He served one ...

to the position of Director of the White House Office on Urban Affairs. When Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

declared a special election to choose his successor, Díaz was considered the leading candidate for the position. The special election was held on April 21, 2009. Díaz defeated the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

candidate

Anthony Ribustello Anthony J. Ribustello was an American actor and Republican politician. He was best known for his role as List of characters from The Sopranos in the Soprano crime family#Dante .22Buddha.22 Greco, Dante Greco, Tony Soprano's driver on the HBO series ...

with an overwhelming 87% of the vote, to become the 13th borough president of the Bronx. On July 1, 2009, Díaz appointed Delores Fernandez to the reconstituted

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. Fernandez is anticipated to be the sole member of the Board who will have a perspective independent of the mayor,

. Díaz ended his first summer as borough president by recommending that the

reject Related Companies' proposal to turn the

Kingsbridge Armory The Kingsbridge Armory, also known as the Eighth Regiment Armory, is a decommissioned armory at Jerome Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road in the Kingsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. It was built in the 1910s, from a design by the f ...

into a shopping mall. In an editorial in the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'', Díaz wrote that he is "fighting to make sure that this development includes 'living wage' jobs that offer health insurance". Related's proposal is still going through the city's review process. In 2017, Díaz won the Democratic primary for borough president with 86% of the vote. On the same day, his father won the Democratic primary to return to the City Council from the Senate. In January 2020, Díaz announced that he would not seek re-election in 2021.

New York City mayoral campaign

In 2018, Diaz was the first candidate to file to run in the

2021 New York City mayoral election The 2021 New York City mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. On June 22, 2021, the primary elections for the Democratic and Republican primaries ...

. Diaz dropped out in January 2020, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Personal life

Díaz lives in the southeast Bronx. He and his wife Hilda have two adult sons.

References

External links

People for Diaz
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Ruben Jr. 1973 births 2012 United States presidential electors 2016 United States presidential electors 2020 United States presidential electors American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Bronx borough presidents Candidates in the 2021 United States elections Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Lehman College alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from the Bronx Puerto Rican people in New York (state) politics