THE FIVE BOROUGH BALLOT
MOTT HAVEN, THE BRONX
CAMAGUEY RESTAURANT
DE BLASIO MESSAGE GETS MIXED RECEPTION IN MOTT HAVEN
ADI TALWAR
SOUTH BRONX NEIGHBORHOOD “HAVE-NOTS” STILL UNDECIDED WHOM TO SUPPORT IN NOVEMBER
Awilda Cordero backed Anthony Weiner in the primary. Now she’s deciding whether to support former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión—who is running on the Independence Party line—or Democrat Bill de Blasio.
By KATE PASTOR
B
ill de Blasio successfully framed his primary campaign as a “tale of two cities”—a metropolis of haves and have-nots. Mott Haven, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, would seem ripe for this message. However, interviews conducted in late September in and around Camaguey restaurant on 138th Street and Brook Avenue suggest the Democratic candidate for mayor still has hearts and minds to win. Even among those who cited the economy as their most important concern, a focus on income inequality did not necessarily translate into votes for de Blasio. Some didn’t believe politics would help solve their problems. Others were still deciding which candidate would most improve their lives financially. Awilda Cordero, a community leader whose boyfriend owns a nearby barbershop on East 138th Street, campaigned for Anthony Weiner until the bitter end, putting signs in windows there and at Camaguey. She will not only vote in November but says she will volunteer for whichever remaining candidates wins her over, vowing to bring “over 100 people if they need ’em” as foot soldiers to the cause. 6
OCTOBER 7, 2013 | cityandstateny.com
“We want to campaign for somebody,” she said. But she hasn’t decided whether to support former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión—who is running on the Independence Party line—or de Blasio. De Blasio made it clear that he would represent whites and blacks, she said, but she is not yet convinced that he will stand alongside Latinos. “Basically we’re looking for somebody who’s really going to help everybody out,” she said. Having worked with Carrión, Cordero has seen him “giving back to the community,” she said, through toy drives and other charitable activities she helped organize as founder of the nonprofit Emergency Rights, an organization that helps victims of crimes and disasters. “Every time my organization called him, he was there as borough president,” she said. “I don’t know de Blasio the way I know Carrión.” Asked which issues he cares most about, a man selling DVDs at Camaguey named Lefty Tony rattled off a list of economic concerns, adding that he wanted to bring prayer back into public schools. Even though the costs of living were going up, he said, wages and salaries seem stagnant. Despite these worries, Tony said he would not vote in November. The last time
he cast a ballot was in the 1980s. “I’m a poor person,” he said. “Their voices don’t count in the United States.” Watching the evening news on a variety of channels, Tony said he mostly hears candidates attacking each other. With the exception of stop-and-frisk, he learns little about where they stand on the issues, he said. “I don’t see no difference,” Tony said. Fernando Santiago, 39, lives in a building adjoining Camaguey, at 518 E. 138th Street. His biggest concerns are rent control, the price of food and the cost of living in general. Though he tends to lean Democratic, Santiago could not name or speak specifically about any of the candidates. Noting that he needs more information about the mayoral hopefuls, he intends to turn on the Channel 7 evening news and begin paying attention to direct messages from the campaigns before Election Day. “I wouldn’t just vote. I would see what’s going on, what they’re talking about,” Santiago said. Race is unlikely to influence his choice; for him politicians are “all the same” and “color doesn’t play a part in it.” Gloria Cruz, a Mott Haven resident and antiviolence advocate, is also still vetting the candidates. “As a Democrat, you always go with the party. But if I don’t feel comfortable, I
just won’t vote at all,” she said when interviewed over the phone. She was initially considering de Blasio, Cruz said, though when she learned Carrión would also be on the ballot come November, she decided to give him serious consideration. “You know, he’s a hometown boy, and he understands a lot about where our people are coming from, and what they need,” she said. On the other hand, she added, “I don’t know where his mind frame is right now.” Cruz said the next mayor should focus on funding youth programs, investing in mental health and helping young people “find peace within themselves so they don’t pick up a gun.” Not everyone was on the fence when it came to the candidates. Sergio Rodriguez, who works for the NYPD, cited de Blasio’s stance against “stop, question and frisk” as the reason he would be voting for Republican candidate Joe Lhota. And Lillian Garcia, 55, who believes de Blasio is “more for the poor people,” has made her choice. But even though her candidate won the Democratic primary, she wasn’t getting her hopes up. “I think the Republican’s going to win, though,” she said. “It’s just a feeling. … It always happens like that.”