Rosie Méndez (born February 28, 1963) is an American Democratic

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served in 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 ...

from the 2nd district from 2006 to 2017. Méndez's district included all or parts of Chelsea, the East Village, the

Flatiron District The Flatiron District is a neighborhood in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan of New York City, named after the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Generally ...

, Gramercy,

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

, 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 ...

, Midtown, Murray Hill,

NoHo NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street, Houston Street" (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street (Manhattan), Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery ...

, and

Stuyvesant Town Stuyvesant may refer to: People * Stuyvesant family * Peter Stuyvesant (1592–1672), the last governor of New Netherland * Peter Stuyvesant (1727–1805), New York landowner and merchant * Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (1778–1847), lawyer, landown ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. She is currently director of Community Affairs for Manhattan Borough President

Gale Brewer Gale Arnot Brewer (born September 6, 1951) is an American Democratic politician from the state of New York who has represented the 6th New York City Council district since January 2022, a position she previously held from 2002 to 2013. From Janu ...

Early life and education

Méndez grew up in the Williamsburg Houses, a

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 ...

development. The child of Puerto Rican parents, she attended

New York City public schools The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...

through high school. She graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

in Newark. In 2011, Méndez completed

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a

David Bohnett David C. Bohnett (born April 2, 1956) is an American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization devoted to improving society through social ...

Leadership Fellow.

Career

She began as a tenant organizer in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

. She then worked on citywide housing issues as a housing specialist at the Parodneck Foundation. In 1995, Méndez graduated from law school and worked as an IOLA Legal Services Fellow at

Brooklyn Legal Services Brooklyn is a borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelve original counties established under Englis ...

. As a legal staff worker she became a member of the

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

(UAW). Prior to her election to the council, Méndez was the Democratic District Leader for her community for four terms. She served for three years as the Chief of Staff and Legislative Aide to her predecessor City Councilwoman Margarita Lopez.

New York City Council

In 2005, Méndez won the heavily contested Democratic primary for New York City's 2nd City Council district. In the heavily Democratic district, the primary victory was considered tantamount to election. After a landslide victory in the general election in November 2005, Méndez took office as the 2nd district's councilwoman in January 2006. She was re-elected in 2009 and 2013. Méndez was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, whe ...

in the 2017 election. In 2017 she endorsed and was succeeded by her former legislative director Carlina Rivera.

Animal rights

In June 2006, Méndez announced legislation to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. The bill received substantial support from other Council Members, including future Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

, future Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, future Public Advocate

Letitia James Letitia Ann "Tish" James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 67th Attorney General of New York, attorney general of New York (NYAG), having won the 2018 New York Attorney General election, 2018 ...

and future Manhattan Borough President

. Méndez, at a rally that year organized by the League of Humane Voters of New York City, told the media "We cannot say we’re an enlightened society when we allow animals to be tortured and abused for entertainment purposes." Though the bill had 25 co-sponsors, Council Speaker Christine Quinn strongly opposed the legislation and the bill died at the end of session. Méndez reintroduced the bill again in 2010 and then again in 2016. In June 2017, the bill was voted out of the Health Committee unanimously. On June 21, 2017, the Council passed Méndez's bill by a vote of 43–6. From the floor of the council, Méndez thanked her "friend and constituent" John Phillips, who led the campaign to pass the bill and who brought the issue to her attention in 2006.

Election history

Personal life

Méndez is openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and was the chairperson of the New York City Council's LGBT Caucus.

References

External links

* *
Information on the 2005 primary campaign in District 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Rosie New York City Council members Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats Hispanic and Latino American city council members Puerto Rican people in New York (state) politics American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Activists from New York City Hispanic and Latino American women in politics American lesbian politicians American LGBTQ city council members American LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ people from New York (state) 1963 births Living people New York University alumni Rutgers School of Law–Newark alumni Women New York City Council members 21st-century American women politicians People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people 21st-century New York (state) politicians