August 18, 2009 / The Bronx / New York City Council District 14

Tapia touts 14th Council District roots

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14th Council District candidate Yudelka Tapia campaigned at Jerome Avenue and Fordham Road on Thursday, August 13.

By Daniel Beekman

Bronx Times-Reporter

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Sarah Palin and Yudelka Tapia are nothing alike. Palin somersaulted into the national spotlight, a peppy cheerleader raised on the frontier. Tapia edged into the 14th Council District spotlight, a Bronxite raised in the Dominican Republic.

Yet Palin and Tapia share a message: “I’m one of you!” Palin appealed to “Joe Six-Pack” in 2008. Tapia wants to reach single mothers and small business owners in the 14th Council District. She wants to tackle the drugs and gangs and crowded schools.

“I’ve lived in the 14th Council District for 20 years,” Tapia said. “I know how difficult it is to raise four sons here.”

Tapia was born and educated in the Dominican Republic, the first of four daughters. Her mother dropped out of school to work in the sixth grade but Tapia attended university in Santo Domingo. Tapia immigrated to the Bronx in 1987.

When the Board of Education assigned her son to P.S. 9, rated the worst school in the city, Tapia the community advocate was born. She demanded that her son attend a better school and let other parents know they had the right to do the same.

A decade later, Tapia has arranged workshops on domestic violence and immigrant issues. She is hardly a seasoned legislator but founded the Great Alliance Democratic Club and served as PTA president at Theodore Roosevelt High School. Tapia ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Assembly in 2002.

When asked to highlight the 14th Council District, Tapia chose to discuss poverty; 40 percent of families in the district earn less than $20,000 a year. Why?

“The elected officials haven’t delivered,” Tapia said.

The 45-year old is knotted in a tough 14th Council District contest. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former Borough President Freddy Ferrer have endorsed incumbent Maria Baez, who belongs to the old guard Bronx County Democratic Party and is close to ousted boss Assemblyman Jose Rivera. The new guard Bronx County Democratic Party and Rainbow Rebels boss Assemblyman Carl Heastie have endorsed Fernando Cabrera. So has Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. 1199 SEIU is behind the New Life Outreach International pastor as well.

Some have described it as a battle between two bosses and two generations, with Tapia wedged in the middle, a portrayal Heastie has objected to. District leaders vetted all three candidates and selected Cabrera, Heastie said. At any rate, the “other” candidate is quick to distance herself from Baez and Cabrera. Baez attended only 60 percent of her City Council engagements, January 2006 to January 2009.

“[Baez] has been absent at City Hall,” Tapia said. “She has been ineffective.”

Tapia alluded to newspaper reports on alleged Baez improprieties, including a $17,000 cell phone bill and $7,500 assigned to a defunct tenant association. Baez won $6 million for 14th Council District schools in fiscal year 2008-2009, $3 million less than City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera snared for 15th Council District schools, Tapia said. Tapia and Baez agree that The Related Companies should sign a binding community benefits agreement at the Kingsbridge Armory. But Tapia blasted Baez for missing a pair of public hearings.

“You don’t see her anywhere,” she said of Baez.

If Tapia is courting “Joe Six-Pack,” then Cabrera is her alleged foil. The Bronx-born pastor was a registered Republican and lived in Pelham until 2008. He attended Liberty University, a fundamentalist Christian institution. Cabrera still owns a home in Pelham. In June, Tapia held a press conference at the Pelham house and compared Cabrera to flip-flopper Pedro Espada. Cabrera and his children left the Bronx for better schools in Westchester County, Tapia said.

“I decided to stay and fight,” she said.

Tapia believes that Cabrera moved to the 14th Council District only in order to run for City Council, behavior she called dishonest. But critics point to Tapia’s endorsement of Assemblyman Nelson Castro in 2008. Castro is also a former Republican and a former Washington Heights resident.

Cabrera is a former member of Community Board 7, a volunteer body, counsels teens and partnered with DARE to launch a series of concerts at St. James Park. Tapia is unimpressed.

“He was paid to work here,” she said.

Tapia will restore integrity to the 14th Council District, push parent power and work with developers to generate jobs with benefits, she said. Her top supporters are Local 78 and the Northwest Bronx Democratic Club; Tapia has seen the headline endorsements go to Baez and Cabrera. She is sure she can win, nonetheless.

“Only 3,357 people voted for Maria Baez in 2005,” Tapia said. “There are 45,000 registered Democrats in the 14th Council District.”

Tapia has at times been labeled a “Dominican” candidate, although Washington Heights Assemblyman and Dominican leader Adriano Espaillat has endorsed Cabrera. When Tapia fights for Dominicans she also fights for Puerto Ricans and Haitians, she said.

“We all have the same problems,” Tapia explained.

Tapia hasn’t taken a penny from developers, she claimed. She has raised $44,343 and spent $34,903. On Thursday, August 13, Tapia campaigned at Jerome Avenue and Fordham road.

“She has my vote,” storeowner Eitan Aliav said. “I don’t see the other candidates around.”

When Jose Anaribia, 35, a Honduras-born restaurant worker stopped to chat, Tapia channeled Palin. Anaribia works in Manhattan.

“No opportunities in the Bronx?” Tapia sympathized. “I know. I know.”

This story belongs to a series of profiles of the Democratic candidates running for City Council in the 14th Council District, encompassing Fordham, Kingsbridge, Morris Heights and part of Mount Hope. The other candidates are Fernando Cabrera and Maria Baez.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group