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Articles by Ruben Diaz Jr.
Public higher education is key to a prosperous Bronx
By JOSE LUIS CRUZ & RUBEN DIAZ JR. This week, Lehman College will graduate the largest class in its 50-plus-year history. More than 3,600 students will be filled with pride over their achievement as they truly beat the odds. You see, about half of these soon-to-be graduates are the first in their families to attend college, and roughly half come from households earning less than $30,000 a year. Some are juggling full-time jobs and supporting families with the demands of their college workload.
NYC gifted, talented programs under threat
April 27, 2019 / News / Viewpoints / New York local By Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr. The destruction of our city’s gifted and talented programs, especially in black and brown communities, is one of the main reasons we see a lack of diversity in our specialized high schools. A high quality education for our accelerated learners must be available at the earliest ages.
The wrong way to pick a jail site: Mayor de Blasio’s Bronx jail plans are deeply misguided
Mayor de Blasio holds a press conference at the City Hall Rotunda to announce the closing of the Rikers Island Jail Complex and the opening of four news jails close to the Courthouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News) We must close Rikers Island. But in its haste, the de Blasio administration has chosen expedience over justice in the Bronx.
Amtrak is failing the Bronx & Westchester: The railroad is an obstacle to better public transit to an underserved part of the region
The East Bronx is in desperate need of more transit options. Westchester County is eager to get more people into its own commercial hub. Gov. Cuomo and the MTA have a plan to provide for both: Penn Station Access will be a Metro-North rail connection tying four new East Bronx stations to both Penn Station in Manhattan and to job centers to the north in Westchester County and Connecticut.
New York City high schools should expand vocational education
The United States is entering an era of dramatic economic upheaval as the industrial economy – and, increasingly, even the service sector – automates tasks once performed by humans. In 20 years, many of the jobs currently held by people without college degrees, including cab and truck drivers, forklift operators and even line cooks, could be filled by robots. Last year, a report by the McKinsey Global Institute found that up to 73 million American jobs could be lost to automation by 2030.
New York City high schools should expand vocational education
The United States is entering an era of dramatic economic upheaval as the industrial economy – and, increasingly, even the service sector – automates tasks once performed by humans. In 20 years, many of the jobs currently held by people without college degrees, including cab and truck drivers, forklift operators and even line cooks, could be filled by robots. Last year, a report by the McKinsey Global Institute found that up to 73 million American jobs could be lost to automation by 2030.
Businesses investing in our neighborhoods must invest in our people
As businesses and investors make their way into New York City neighborhoods that were not on their radar 10 or 15 years ago, they have a responsibility to be good neighbors and community members. This is especially true when it comes to the Bronx, which has been host to more than $15.4 billion in total development since 2009. It is the obligation of elected leaders and the business community to ensure that new development works for everyone.
This year demands a defiant Puerto Rican Day Parade
Puerto Ricans do not have much to celebrate when it comes to rebuilding the island following a devastating storm. Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and deserve the same assistance and respect that our fellow citizens would receive after a disaster. That has not been the case, and we will not stand for it. At this year’s parade, we must send a wake-up call to those who would ignore us, be it President Trump, Congress or anyone else.
Bronx BP: Stop the gun madness
Enough is enough. How many more lives have to be taken from our friends, families and loved ones before we act to prevent the next mass murder such as what we saw in Orlando? Let’s call the tragedy in Orlando for what it is: an evil, diabolical, wicked act of terror facilitated by the easy access to powerful weaponry, such as the Sig Sauer MCX used in the Orlando massacre and the very similar AR-15.
How New York City can afford Fair Fares
For the second straight year, the New York City Council expressed support for subsidizing transit fares for low-income New Yorkers. This year’s council budget response, released last week, called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to include $212 million in funding for half-price MetroCards for individuals and families living below the federal poverty line and for veterans enrolled in New York City colleges.
Los inquilinos de NYCHA no deben ser tratados como ciudadanos de segunda clase. ¡Basta ya! | El Diario NY
La situación es crítica y ha quedado muy claro que NYCHA le ha fallado a cientos de miles de neoyorquinos. /Mariela Lombard Foto: Mariela Lombard / El Diario NY Por: Rubén Díaz Jr. 13 febrero 2018 Por años, NYCHA ha abandonado su responsabilidad de proveer calefacción y agua caliente durante el crudo invierno y las gélidas temperaturas que han azotado nuestra área. Actualmente, casi la mitad de todas las calderas de calefacción de los edificios de NYCHA necesitan ser reemplazadas.
New York City's poorest riders badly need our help. It's only fair.
The “summer of hell” has passed, and transit riders from across New York City did their best to weather the ongoing storm of our public transit system. Over the past few months, various proposals to finance the rebuilding of our transit infrastructure were put forward by elected leaders. Congestion pricing was revived by some, while others floated a new tax on the wealthiest New Yorkers. Some have even suggested the return of a commuter tax. Our physical infrastructure certainly needs an upgrade.
Don't Mess with Christopher Columbus
On Monday, I will march in the annual Columbus Day Parade up Fifth Avenue. I will join thousands of revelers in celebrating their Italian heritage, their culture and the contributions Italian-Americans have made to this city and this nation. And I will join their calls to keep the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle right where it is. This summer, I joined in the national outcry to excise from the public square statues and monuments that celebrated the leadership of the Confederacy.
Don’t mess with Christopher Columbus
On Monday, I will march in the annual Columbus Day Parade up Fifth Avenue. I will join thousands of revelers in celebrating their Italian heritage, their culture and the contributions Italian-Americans have made to this city and this nation. And I will join their calls to keep the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle right where it is. This statue should not be removed.
Ruben Diaz: Why I'm still marching in the Puerto Rican Day Parade
On Sunday, June 11, hundreds of thousands of my fellow Puerto Ricans and New Yorkers will come together along Fifth Ave. to celebrate our shared culture and heritage as part of the 60th Annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade. I will be among them. I will march as I have for each of the 20 years I have been an elected official. And I will celebrate like I have since I was a small child. I will shake hands will my fellow boricuas. I will proudly wave La Bandera Puertorriquena.
JP Morgan Chase's $6M funding gives youths place in Bronx revival
Few stories of transformative rebirth from urban decline are as inspiring as that of the South Bronx. However, there is a new challenge facing the community: connecting what students learn in school with the skills businesses need. While the unemployment rate in the Bronx has fallen below 6%, we must still address wage stagnation and provide young people with more opportunities for skilled employment and the higher salaries that come with it.
Share bike share with the Bronx & Staten Island
Despite record investment in new transportation infrastructure projects in our boroughs, transit equity continues to elude us in one very high-profile way. Combined, we represent nearly 2 million New Yorkers. Yet not a single Citi Bike terminal sits within our borders. The status quo on bike sharing in New York City is no longer tenable.
Una celebración para todos los hispanos | El Diario NY
Por: Rubén Díaz Jr. 21 Septiembre 2016 Las festividades del mes de la Herencia Hispana son mis favoritas, porque nos permiten celebrar juntos nuestra gran cultura.
Protejamos a los inquilinos de la ciudad
Es necesario que aprobemos la propuesta de ley “Intro 214-A que busca proveer a los arrendatarios la asistencia de un abogado en caso de desalojos Muchos inquilinos de bajos recursos no conocen sus derechos.
Diaz and Samuelsen: The MTA can rescue suffering workers
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Plan is packed with improvements for riders, including a new fleet of high-tech buses featuring Wi-Fi and charging ports; a new subway line beneath Second Ave., and a new Metro-North spur to Penn Station from the East Bronx. Gov. Cuomo should be commended for ensuring the $27 billion five-year plan is fully funded. But with that kind of taxpayer investment, we can and should do much more.
City Council’s ‘bag tax’ slams the poor for trivial gains
This week, the New York City Council will vote on a bill that aims to charge New Yorkers a nickel every time they are provided with a plastic or paper bag from their favorite bodega or grocery store, essentially implementing a “bag tax” for all New Yorkers. With the cost of living continuing to climb, we believe this additional burden is simply unacceptable. Here’s why. Low- and middle-income people in New York City are overburdened already.
Stringer and Diaz: Our responsibility to help rescue P.R.
In the depths of New York City’s fiscal crisis in the 1970s, few could have imagined our vibrant, stable, highly rated municipality of today. But in those dark days, the state and federal governments recognized the importance of the city to the nation — and to the then-7.3 million people who called it home.
Ruben Diaz Jr.: Conversion of ex-jail gives Bronx "new hope"
It is fitting that the Bronx should be the first borough to convert a former correctional facility into a center for reentry and reintegration of those returning home from prison and jail. This is, after all, the borough that has always believed in and worked for second chances, even as we lost too many of our sons and daughters to upstate prisons — the result of a broken criminal justice system that emphasized tough-on-crime sentencing laws over rehabilitation.
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