Palma Betrayed by Her Own Party? King Left Out; Torres New Bronx Star

So, how did the Bronx Council delegation do with Speaker Mark-Viverito’s committee assignments? Not so good.

First, keep in mind that the Bronx Democratic Party, except freshman Councilmember Ritchie Torres, supported Mark-Viverito-s rival, Dan Garodnick.

The only two Councilmembers who did not get a piece of the pie were Andy King (Co-op City) and Annabel Palma, who also ran for Speaker.

After the assignments, Palma went on the offensive, bashing Speaker Mark-Viverito and called it “politics as usual” and stating “a blind man can see that this is political retribution.” This argument falls short as the Speaker even appointed her strongest rival (Garodnick) Chair of the powerful Economic Development Committee.  Palma further stated that “nothing has changed.” However, many political observers have commented that the new Speaker’s assignments demonstrate strong leadership on the part of Mark-Viverito.

When questioned by reporters about Palma’s comments, Speaker Mark-Viverito simply responded that “unfortunately, that’s the interpretation of our colleague. I respect the position but I differ with it.”

In his weekly appearance on NY 1’s Inside City Hall, political commentator Gerson Borrero said that Palma “was sold out by her own people” and challenged Palma to questioned “the deal” that Bronx Part Dem Chair Carl Heastie brokered with the Arroyo family. South Bronx Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo was selected to Chair the Community Development Committee.

It remains to be seen what political effect this may have on the leadership of Chairman Heastie, whose leadership has been put in question as a result of several recent political scandals in the Bronx.

Andy King, surprisingly, was also excluded from any committee chairmanship. This was a surprise to many since he was not publicly bashing Mark-Viverito during her race.

NW Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera was assigned Chair of Juvenile Justice. This came as a surprise given Cabrera’s opposition to Mark-Viverito’s race for Speaker. Further, minutes after Mark-Viverito’s historic election, Cabrera left a cloud of doubt when asked about Mark-Viverito’s election by Spanish newspaper (El Diario/La Prensa) and stated that “now let’s see if she really does what she said she would do and if the Council is really united under her leadership.” Seems like these comments were irrelevant to Mark-Viverito’s decision to designate Cabrera as Chair of the Juvenile Justice Committee.

The real winner in the Bronx is newly-elected Councilmember Ritchie Torres, who defied Chairman Heastie and supported Mark-Viverito early on. He will Chair the Public Housing Committee. Many observers say that Torres represents the future of Bronx politics, with a new era of progressives running for office. 

It remains to be seen how much ‘lulus’ each of the Bronx Councilmembers will receive when they are doled out in the new few months. Each Councilmember can receive from $200,000 to millions, depending of course, on their relationship with the Speaker.

As Assemblyman Jose Rivera, a staunch supporter of Mark-Viverito, wrote in his Facebook page that “If you were one of those who saw this train "Stop" at your local train station while the conductor was saying, "ALL ABOARD!" and did not jump on, don't blame Melissa blame yourself.”