Jose Rivera (politician)

Rivera was born in 1936 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1983 to 1987, sitting in the 185th, 186th and 187th New York State Legislatures. He was a member of the New York City Council from 1987 to 2000. Rivera was elected again to the State Assembly in 2000, and was the head of the Democratic Party in the Bronx from 2002 until he was ousted in 2008 by the so-called Rainbow Rebels.{{cite news |last1=Rivieccio |first1=Anthony |title=Who will be next to hold the title: Chairman of The Bronx Democratic Party? |url=https://thebronxchronicle.com/2015/02/19/will-next-hold-title-chairman-bronx-democratic-party/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221153525/http://thebronxchronicle.com/2015/02/19/will-next-hold-title-chairman-bronx-democratic-party/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 21, 2015 |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=The Bronx Chronicle |date=February 19, 2015}}

Prior to his election to the Assembly in 1982, Rivera gained prominence as a labor advocate and organizer of construction workers and "gypsy" taxicab drivers.{{cite book|editor1=Lien, Marianne Elisabeth |editor2=Melhuus, Marit |author=Krohn-Hansen, Christian |title=Holding Worlds Together: Ethnographies of Knowing and Belonging|year=2007|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-84545-250-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQ5siadToD4C&q=Jose+Rivera+cab+gypsy&pg=PA86|access-date=October 25, 2010|page=86|chapter=Chapter 5: The Understanding of Migration and the Discourse of Nationalism: Dominicans in New York City|quote='...Then the Puerto Ricans, who are the pioneers in this struggle, began to offer services with the so-called gypsy cabs, cars that weren't regulated by the city...We had a Puerto Rican who was born in this industry, José Rivera...'}}

During his tenure as County Leader of the Bronx, Rivera was frequently advised by Mike Nieves, a Democratic party consultant and strategist.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/nyregion/16rivera.html?pagewanted=all |title=At 70, Taking Stock of a Career in Bronx Politics |work=The New York Times |last=Fernandez |first=Manny |date=December 16, 2006 |access-date=June 26, 2013}} Rivera was a vocal advocate for the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from its bombing range on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and was arrested in 2001, together with Al Sharpton and other political figures, for trespassing onto the Navy's Vieques facility. The Navy subsequently agreed to withdraw from the Vieques facility. Two of his children, Joel Rivera and Naomi Rivera, were formerly elected officials in the Bronx, and were members of the New York City Council and New York State Assembly, respectively.

In the 2022 primary, he lost his re-nomination bid to George Alvarez.

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• [http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=078 Official New York State Assembly Website]

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{{succession box | title = New York State Assembly
77th district | before = Armando Montano | years = 1983–1987 | after = Israel Martinez}}

{{s-bef|before=Roberto Ramirez}}

{{s-ttl|title=New York State Assembly
78th district|years=2001–2022}}

{{s-aft | after = George Alvarez}}

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{{succession box | title = New York City Council
13th district | before = Fernando Ferrer | years = 1988–1991 | after = Michael DeMarco}}

{{succession box | title = New York City Council
15th district | before = Walter Ward | years = 1992–2000 | after = Joel Rivera}}

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{{s-bef | before = Roberto Ramirez}}

{{s-ttl | title = Chairman of the Executive Committee of
the Bronx County Democratic Committee| years = 2002 - 2008}}

{{s-aft | after = Carl Heastie}}

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{{New York State Assembly}}

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Category:1936 births

Category:Living people

Category:Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly

Category:New York City Council members

Category:Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members

Category:Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state)

Category:Politicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico

Category:Politicians from the Bronx

Category:Puerto Rican people in New York (state) politics

Category:American politicians of Puerto Rican descent

Category:21st-century members of the New York State Legislature

Category:20th-century members of the New York State Legislature