In a recent editorial board meeting with El Diario/La Prensa, State Senator Ruben Diaz admitted that he and Bronx County Democratic Chairman Jose Rivera had not been talking.
The bad blood stems from several sources—a challenge to Rivera’s power, a broken agreement over the support of presumptive Civil Court Judge Elizabeth Taylor and most of all, tension over what could be stiff competition between the Rivera and Diaz clans for the borough presidency next year.
In some ways, the squabbling is part of the growing pains that come with much needed re-ordering. And as much as some critics would like to suggest that the borough corners the market on family dynasties and power clusters, that’s not the case: the Molinaro’s of Staten Island and the Paterson’s of Harlem are only a couple of examples.
But all drama aside, the Bronx is the seat of Latino political power in New York. At a time when communities are getting the short end of the development stick—thanks in part to some current leaders—it would be a disgrace to focus on crowning the next king instead of acting like grownups collaborating on a larger vision.
So will the real Bronx leader please stand up?
That brave person should convene Rivera, Diaz (who has now expressed a willingness to talk), Pedro Espada Jr., and Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, among others, to move them past the mini novelas that are serving everyone but the people of the Bronx.
