Margarita López is a former member of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

who represented New York City's 2nd City Council district from 1998 to 2005. The 2nd district comprises the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

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 ...

, and the East Village. López was elected to the Council in 1997. Born in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, she relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, 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 an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

,'' she came under fire for connections to the controversial

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

, 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 Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, 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 Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

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 ...

. 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 may ...

, the second Puerto Rican politician to run for mayor of the city (

Herman Badillo Herman Badillo ( , ; August 21, 1929 – December 3, 2014) was an American lawyer and 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 Puerto Rican e ...

was the first). She was succeeded in her previous councilmember position by

Rosie Méndez Rosie Méndez (born February 28, 1963) is an American Democratic politician who served in the New York City Council from the 2nd district from 2006 to 2017. Méndez's district included all or parts of Chelsea, the East Village, the Flatiron Di ...

References

External links

Interview with ''New York Latino Journal''

Activists from New York City Puerto Rican people in New York (state) politics American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American women in politics American lesbian politicians American LGBTQ city council members LGBTQ people from New York (state) Puerto Rican lesbians Puerto Rican LGBTQ 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 Politicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico Year of birth missing (living people) {{PuertoRico-bio-stub

See also

References

External links