Margarita López is a former member of the
New York City Council who represented
New York City's 2nd City Council district
New York City's 2nd City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Carlina Rivera since 2018, succeeding term-limited fellow Democrat Rosie Méndez.
...
from 1998 to 2005. The 2nd district comprises the
Lower East Side,
Alphabet City
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...
, and the
East Village. López was elected to the Council in 1997. Born in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, she relocated to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1978. 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 ...
, she was the only openly gay
Puerto Rican politician on the City Council for some time. During her years of political service, she has particularly emphasized increasing city services, renovating neighborhood libraries, and championing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.
In 2005, López entered the race to succeed
C. Virginia Fields as
Manhattan Borough President. Due to a series of articles published in the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
,'' she came under fire for connections to the controversial
Church of Scientology, whose members donated sizeable amounts of money to her campaign. Due at least in part to the bad press generated by these stories and the Church of Scientology's views on
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
, she lost the Democratic primary election to win her party's endorsement for the general election in November of that year. Democratic candidate
Scott Stringer
Scott M. Stringer (born April 29, 1960) is an American politician who served as the 44th New York City Comptroller. A Democrat, Stringer also previously served as a New York State Assemblyman, and as the 26th borough president of Manhattan.
I ...
won both the primary and later the general election.
In 2006, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg appointed López to a seat on the board of the
New York City Housing Authority
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...
.
López, who once was a critic of Bloomberg, endorsed the mayor in his re-election campaign against
Fernando Ferrer
Fernando James Ferrer (born April 30, 1950) is an American politician who was the borough president of The Bronx from 1987 to 2001. Ferrer was a candidate for mayor of New York City in 1997 and 2001 and was the Democratic Party nominee for ma ...
, the second Puerto Rican politician to run for mayor of the city (
Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo (pronounced ''bah-DEE-yoh''; August 21, 1929 – December 3, 2014) was an American politician who served as borough president of The Bronx and United States Representative, and ran for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Pu ...
was the first). She was succeeded in her previous councilmember position by
Rosie Méndez.
See also
*
LGBT culture in New York City
*
List of LGBT people from New York City
*
Nuyorican
Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...
*
Puerto Ricans in New York City
Puerto Ricans have both immigrated and migrated to New York City. The first group of Puerto Ricans immigrated to New York City in the mid-19th century when Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony and its people Spanish subjects. The following wave o ...
References
External links
Interview with ''New York Latino Journal''
Activists from New York City
American politicians of Puerto Rican descent
Puerto Rican people in New York (state) politics
Hispanic and Latino American women in politics
Lesbian politicians
American LGBT city council members
LGBT people from New York (state)
Puerto Rican LGBT people
American LGBT rights activists
Living people
New York City Council members
Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members
Women New York City Council members
New York (state) Democrats
People from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Year of birth missing (living people)
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