For Immediate Release: August 21, 2012
Contact: Sean Collins, 910.381.5815, scollins@citizenactionny.org

Citizen Action Endorses Senator Gustavo Rivera

Good Government Group Rallies Behind Progressive

Bronx, New York - Citizen Action of New York, a grassroots membership organization that fights for key issues like fair education funding, quality and affordable health care for all, Fair Elections campaign finance reform, racial justice, and a more progressive tax system, today announced their endorsement of Senator Gustavo Rivera in his reelection effort in the 33rd Senate District in the West Bronx.

“State Senator Rivera is a progressive leader of exceptional ability and dedication who is working hard to improve the lives of the people in his Bronx district,” said Té Revesz, a Citizen Action board member and chair of the Citizen Action of New York City Chapter. “Since his election in 2010, Senator Rivera has joined with Citizen Action in support of establishing a Health Insurance Exchange, universal Pre-Kindergarten, and Fair Elections for New York. We look forward to continuing our productive partnership.”

By Kirsten Sanchez - Bronx Times

Everyone has a right to justice, not only those who are fortunate enough to be able to afford it.

Senator Gustavo Rivera is working to help those who can not help themselves.

The Senator’s Charitable Bail Bonds Bill was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday, July 17.

By Sarah Ramirez- Norwood News

After nearly 30 years, the University Neighborhood Housing Program (UNHP) celebrated a new milestone with the opening of the Northwest Bronx Resource Center last week.

The Center is a joint effort with six established non-profits (led by UNHP) to provide Bronxites with free tax preparation, financial coaching, foreclosure prevention assistance and small business help at one Bronx location, the Refuge House at 2715 Bainbridge Ave., near East 196th Street.

“Community work is a team effort,” said Jim Buckley, UNHP’s executive director.

Originally founded by Fordham University in 1983, UNHP works to preserve and create affordable housing in the community.

It is an uphill battle as the number of neighborhoods where the city’s working class can afford to live continues to dwindle. Despite rents in the Bronx being among the lowest in the city, about half of Bronxites spend half of their incomes on rent.

By Cynthia Fagen - New York Post

State and local Latino leaders yesterday convened a special session with student graduates of a prestigious college program that grooms future policymakers. About 200 people attended the Model New York State Senate Session Project reunion held at Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work in Harlem.

“Students actually get a sense of what it’s like to make policy,” said Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx).“To many of these kids who have never even visited Albany, they get to go to the floor of the Senate and stand up and debate an issue. We get them to think about what a representative is and the interests of their constituency,” he said.

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York has enacted a new law authorizing charities to post bail of up to $2,000 for those charged with misdemeanors and unable to come up with the money.

Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat and sponsor, said innocent people will plead guilty when they can't afford bail, fearing consequences like losing jobs or child custody or eviction. The equally bad alternative is an unwarranted conviction, he said.

"This law takes an important step toward leveling the playing field for working people and creating a more just bail system," Rivera said.

Legislation passed by state lawmakers last week with approval from Gov. Cuomo could free thousands of jailed Bronxites.

Sponsored by state Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx), the new law will allow charitable organizations statewide to post bail - up to $2,000 - for poor defendants held on misdemeanor charges.

The Cuomo-vetted bill is an amended version of legislation that the governor rejected after it cleared the Senate and Assembly last summer, Rivera said.

Con la pérdida de 30 libras a través de la Iniciativa de Salud El Bronx CAN (Cambiar Actitudes Ahora) lanzada el año pasado, el senador estatal Gustavo Rivera está a un paso de que no lo cuenten entre los gorditos de su distrito, donde el 68% de los residentes padece de sobrepeso u obesidad.

Pero Rivera no quiere salirse de esta estadística solo. Como El Bronx CAN, además del senador, favoreció a más de 300 personas (un 50% hispana) y el mismo político es un ejemplo de su éxito, la oficina de Rivera junto al presidente del condado, Rubén Díaz hijo, y el hospital Montefiore, lanzó el segundo año de la iniciativa con el objetivo de educar a la comunidad sobre cómo crear mejores hábitos de salud. 

Rivera reveló que entre los logros de El Bronx CAN están tres proyectos de ley que han sido presentados en la Legislatura Estatal, entre ellos uno que busca que se prohíba fumar dentro de los 100 pies de la entrada o salida de cualquier institución educativa pública o privada, el cual ya ha sido aprobado por los comités de la Asamblea y el Senado.

On Dec. 9, 2011, for instance, he posted an update notifying friends that he had taken 698 steps over 11 minutes at 11:35 a.m. And, on Dec. 27, 2011, he walked 9,456 steps over 125 minutes at 9:40 a.m.

The 6-foot-2 Rivera, who is now down to 270 pounds from a high of 299, wasn’t always so worried about his weight.

Former state senators from one particularly hapless section of the northwest Bronx have something in common on their résumés: one went to jail, another is still in jail and a third now faces jail.

But Senator Gustavo Rivera said he would not follow in the footsteps of predecessors like Israel Ruiz Jr., who was expelled from the State Senate in 1989 after being convicted of bank fraud, or Efraín González Jr., who was sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption in 2010. Mr. Rivera does not even like to mention the man he ousted, Pedro Espada Jr., who was found guilty of theft on Monday for siphoning money from a Bronx health clinic that paid for lobster dinners, flowers and spa treatments, among other things.