August 24, 2020
City & State New York
3
EDITOR’S NOTE
JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief
EVER SINCE HIS RUN for New York City Council in 2013, Ritchie Torres has frequently been billed as the next big thing in New York politics. Midway through his first term in office, the Observer featured him under the headline, “Could This 27-Year-Old Councilman Be the Mayor of New York One Day?” Not long afterward, he was the subject of a glowing profile in The New Yorker, which described him as a “rising star” who was “fighting for the poor under Trump.” Not surprisingly, his own official City Council profile describes him as “a rising star in City politics.” City & State was early in identifying Torres as a promising political talent, highlighting him in our 2013 New York City 40 Under 40 Rising Stars list. At the time, on the heels of a victory in a competitive City Council primary, we credited “Torres’ message that resonated in the district, undoubtedly helped by his compelling personal narrative, including his being raised in public housing.” Seven years later, Torres has just secured an even more impressive victory in another crowded primary, this time for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this week’s magazine, City & State contributor A. G. Sims looks at how Torres beat several other Democratic heavyweights in the contest – and how there’s more to his personal narrative than meets the eye.
CONTENTS NOT DEAD YET … 8
How New York City can get better
POWER OF DIVERSITY … 12
New York’s 100 most politically powerful Latinos
RITCHIE TORRES … 14
CELESTE SLOMAN; EMILY GERAGHTY/SHUTTERSTOCK
He overcame the odds. Now he’s headed to Congress.
THE CENSUS … 32 Upper Manhattan stands up to be counted Conventional wisdom says Latinos don’t answer the census. Washington Heights begs to differ.
WINNERS & LOSERS … 50
Who was up and who was down last week