Borough President’s Decennial Legacy in the Bronx
“My goal has always been to leave The Bronx better than we found it, with more resources than I had when I was here in my youth” -Borough President Rueben Diaz Jr.
On February 20th, 2020, Bronx borough president Rueben Diaz Jr. hosted his annual Borough Address as a two-part celebration, showcasing the highlights of his career. Community leaders and residents came together to recognize ten years of work in making the borough a better place.
Looking back Diaz had crafted policies that resonated with citizens. The president’s efforts in justice reform, education, and housing have been some of his top priorities. His goals were to implement a fairer and humane justice system, integrating more computer science programs, prevent overcrowding in elementary schools, and to cease the shortage of affordable housing.
Justice Reform
A highlight from Diaz’s career is his work towards revitalizing the justice system. In the 2018 borough address, he emphasized how jails were “revolving doors for drug use”, and that facilities must be thoroughly vetted.
The pro-cannabis movement picking up in 2016 caused legislation to create reforms addressing the multitude of arrests for marijuana. According to the New York City Police Department reports the first quarter of 2019, the Bronx had approximately 180 arrests relating to marijuana, most of all five boroughs.
Since Diaz’s time in office he has zeroed in on marijuana justice. The Marijuana Justice Report stated that citizens of color are subjected to “unequal enforcement of the law”. His plan proposed that citizens with convictions are to have their criminal convictions annulled. This specifically applies to people with first time, low-level marijuana offenses.
A year later the arrests for the first quarter of 2020 decreased to 22, which is second to Staten Island in having the lowest amount of arrests. Citizens of color being arrested decreased by 78%.
Education
Between the years of 2015 and 2016 the city was experiencing overcrowding in public schools. Classrooms were constantly at full capacity and students outnumbered teachers. An estimated 575,000 students attended schools that were at 100 percent capacity.
In September of 2019 Diaz attempted to address overcrowding in public schools in the Bronx. He had made plans to reform the School Construction Authority (SCA), the agency that is responsible for building and maintenance of public school space in New York City. Diaz had set forth the plan to ensure that schools had adequate spaces to teach children, and to rehabilitate cost overruns.
There has been a focus on the scarcity of resources as funding has been subpar. Diaz was capable of getting $7.3 million in funding for public schools. According to Black Star News, the budget is capital funding that will be allocated all over the borough for cafeteria renovation, building new gym bleachers, and even a hydroponic science lab. The funds are distributed amongst 56 public schools according to the area of specialization as each school needs different resources.
Affordable Housing
In the early years of the president’s career, the Bronx made up half of family homelessness citywide. Diaz has made affordable housing one of his priorities, saying that it’s his job to “keep people in their homes and make new ones,”. He implemented plans for lawyers to be accessible to tenants avoiding evictions as well as building an estimate of 20,000 housing units.
As of January 2020, Diaz has introduced A Place to Call Home, addressing New York’s affordability crisis. The goals are to expand small homeownership and prevent the demolition of houses by making properties into cooperatives and condominiums and converting more units into subsidies.
Over the past three years, subsidized units made up 39.08% of housing on average throughout 12 community zones in the Bronx. Affordable housing is also provided through public housing which involves property that is operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and those units made up of 10.39% of housing on average. However, as of September of 2019 roughly 30% of individuals are living in shelters, the most of any borough.
The 2020 Borough Address served to be a commemoration ceremony for the Borough President, as he announced his retirement from public office in January of this year. Many will remember him as an invested member of the community. New York State Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, on describing Diaz: “I don’t think there has been a singular individual in the history of this borough whose vision and passion for the Bronx has led to such a dramatic change.”
