Gotham Gazette

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Latinos

Latinos

  • Latino Vote '21 Podcast: Shaun Abreu Pursues a City Council Seat in Manhattan

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    Shaun Abreu (photo: @ShaunAbreu)


    Shaun Abreu, the Democratic nominee in City Council District 7, joined the Latino Vote '21 pop-up podcast from Gotham Gazette and hosted by Eli Valentin. The podcast is focused on Latino voters and candidates in New York City's 2021 city government elections.

    Listen through the audio below or find this and other episodes under the "Max Politics" podcast stream wherever you get podcasts:

  • Latino Vote '21 Podcast: Alexa Avilés Pursues a City Council Seat in Brooklyn

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    Alexa Avilés (photo: Alexa Avilés campaign)


    Alexa Avilés, a Democratic candidate for City Council, recently prevailed in the primary in District 38 in Brooklyn. She joined the Latino Vote '21 podcast to discuss her candidacy and the Latino vote in her district and beyond. The Latino Vote '21 podcast is a pop-up podcast produced by Gotham Gazette and hosted by contributing columnist Eli Valentin (who writes a column of the same name) exploring Latino candidates, voters, and other related themes in the city's 2021 elections. Episodes can

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  • Latino Vote ‘21: A Big Boost for Eric Adams in the Democratic Primary for Mayor

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    Eric Adams with Ruben Diaz Jr, Ydanis Rodriguez, and others (photo: @ydanis)


    The Democratic mayoral primary is finally over. Over too is the ranked-choice vote counting process. We know enough for a preliminary analysis of how many Latinos voted and how, though those numbers will need to be fine-tuned after results have been certified and voter information updated.

    Here is what we know right now: In a crowded field, Eric Adams earned the greatest chunk of the Latino vote, especially in the Bronx, the only Latino-majority borough in the City of New

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  • Latino Vote '21 Podcast: Marjorie Velázquez Pursues a City Council Seat in the Bronx

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    Marjorie Velázquez (photo: @mvelaznyc)


    Marjorie Velázquez, a City Council candidate in the Bronx, joined host Eli Valentin on the Latino Vote '21 pop-up podcast to discuss her candidacy and Latino voters in the 13th City Council District and beyond.

    Listen through the audio below or find this and other episodes under the "Max Politics" podcast stream wherever you get podcasts:

  • Latino Vote '21 Podcast: Pierina Sanchez Pursues a City Council Seat in the Bronx

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    Pierina Sanchez (photo: pierinasanchez.nyc)


    Pierina Sanchez, a City Council candidate in the Bronx, joined host Eli Valentin on the Latino Vote '21 pop-up podcast to discuss her candidacy and Latino voters in the 14th City Council District and beyond.

    Listen through the audio below or find this and other episodes under the "Max Politics" podcast stream wherever you get podcasts:

  • Latinos and the 2021 City Council Elections in Queens

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    Council Member Francisco Moya (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    The Latino population in Queens has exploded over the last two decades, and it is prompting a coming of age in Latino political representation in the borough. If current trends continue, Queens may become another center of Latino political power in the City of New York, alongside the Bronx.

    The rise of Latino political representation in Queens began in 2000 when Hiram Monserrate became the first Latino elected to a position in the borough, beating an incumbent for a Democratic

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  • Latino Vote '21 Podcast: Queens, with Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas

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    Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas (photo: @votejgr)


    For the third episode of the Latino Vote '21 pop-up podcast, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas joined host Eli Valentin to discuss the Latino vote in Queens. Listen through the audio below or find this and other episodes under the "Max & Murphy" podcast stream wherever you get podcasts:


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  • Latino Vote '21 Podcast: The Bronx, with Council Member Rafael Salamanca

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    City Council Member Rafael Salamanca (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    Eli Valentin is a professor, political analyst, and writer who has experience as a political consultant and working in city and state government in New York. He writes regular columns for Gotham Gazette, largely focused on Latino politics in New York City. Those columns include a series, Latino Vote '21, about the Latino vote in the consequential 2021 New York City elections that are happening this year,

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  • The Latino Vote and the Bronx Borough President Race

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    Ruben Diaz Jr. (photo via Bronx Borough President's office)


    Term limits mean a slew of hotly-contested races every eight years in New York City. This year, not only is the mayor’s race in this category, but the race to succeed outgoing Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. is too, yet it is one that is unfortunately attracting little attention.

    The Bronx borough president race has five candidates on the ballot: Fernando Cabrera, Nathalia Fernandez, Vanessa Gibson, Sammy Ravelo, and Luis Sepulveda. Four of these five candidates

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  • Latino Vote '21: An Introduction to Latino Voters and the 2021 NYC Elections

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    Latino Vote '21 with Eli Valentin 


    Eli Valentin is a professor, political analyst, and writer who has experience as a political consultant and working in city and state government in New York. He writes regular columns for Gotham Gazette, largely focused on Latino politics in New York City. Those columns include a series, Latino Vote '21, about the Latino vote in the consequential 2021 New York City elections that are happening this

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  • Latinos and the 2021 City Council Elections in the Bronx

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    Latino leaders in the Bronx (photo: Ruben Diaz Jr.)


    This piece is part of Latino Vote ‘21, a series of columns on the Latino vote and the 2021 New York City elections.

    I mentioned in my previous column introducing this series on the Latino vote in the 2021 New York City elections that the growing Latino presence in New York has meant a slow but

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  • Latinos and the 2021 New York City Council Elections

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    Dominican Day Parade (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    In the coming months, leading up to the all-important June New York City primary elections, I will be writing a series of columns for Gotham Gazette exploring how the Latino vote can impact City Council races across the city. The series — Latino Vote ‘21 — will also highlight some opportunities that may increase Latino political representation and will at times touch on citywide or boroughwide races.

    This series is, I believe, the first of its kind in a publication like Gotham

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  • Latinos and the 2021 New York City Mayoral Election

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    At the Puerto Rican Day Parade (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    Will Latinos finally help elect the first Latino mayor in New York City history? With a term-limited Bill de Blasio, and with Latinos a growing political force in Gotham, two Latino candidates on the Democratic side are vying to replace him in Gracie Mansion and Fernando Mateo has just announced his candidacy to gain the Republican nomination. 

    Brooklyn City Council Member Carlos Menchaca and long-time nonprofit executive Dianne Morales have positioned

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  • We’re Not All The Same: Rethinking ‘The Latino Vote’

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    City Council Member Francisco Moya, the author (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    How many more elections until incumbents and newcomers in races across the country realize that we are not all the same?

    “Speaking” the language or being designated Latino/Hispanic does not translate to our larger population sharing the same story or weighing issues with the same values.

    According to Pew Research, a record 32

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  • Respuestas Al Censo Varían Bastante Entre Las Comunidades Latinas De La Ciudad

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    Census outreach efforts (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    This article was also published in English - read that version here.

    El conteo del censo, el cual ocurre una vez por década y se acerca a su conclusión al final de este mes, ha sido muy accidentado en la ciudad de Nueva York. La peor pandemia en un siglo desbarató elaborados planes de alcance comunitario y desató una cascada de efectos

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  • Census Response Rates Vary Widely Among City's Latino Communities

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    Census march in Sunset Park, Brooklyn (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    This story has also been published in Spanish - find that version here. Esta historia también ha sido publicada en español, encuéntrala aquí.

    The once-a-decade

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  • Participation in the Census is The Most Powerful Thing The Latino Community Can Do Right Now

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    Latino lawmakers & others getting out the 2020 Census count (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    In this unsettling and disturbing time of high uncertainty and racially-motivated hate, one of the most important -- and easiest -- ways Americans can ensure their own protection is by completing the census. When brown Americans fill out the census, it is an act of protest. Even in 2020, many still believe filling out the census is as though we are taking what isn’t ours, and that is exactly the point. As residents of this country, we have a right to take advantage of the

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  • 2020 Primaries: Winds of Change Shifting Latino Politics in New York City

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    Ritchie Torres (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    As this month’s primary election results seem to be proving, the winds of change are blowing and are shifting the direction of Latino politics in New York City. Has a new era of leadership in Latino political representation arrived?

    In the Bronx, Ritchie Torres seems to be ahead with a comfortable margin, defeating Michael Blake, long-time politico Ruben Diaz, Sr., and many others in the 15th Congressional District. In these pages ...

  • A Closer Look at New York City Latino Voter Participation in the 2018 Elections

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    (photo: Mayor's Office)


    NYC Votes and the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee recently released their mandated report regarding voting participation in New York City, which skyrocketed in 2018. While the report contains fascinating analyses, it does not, nor does it seek to, delve into the role that people of color, in this case specifically Latinos, played in last year’s elections. But their role was definitely pivotal, and it particularly affected the New York gubernatorial primary.

    According to my own analysis, over half a million more voters came out to the polls in the

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  • State of Latino Health: Dismal, and Invisible

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    (photo via NYC Mayor's Office)


    Latinos make up nearly a third of New York City’s eight million residents. But even though we are a large part of New York’s present and a rising population that’s crucial to the city’s future, we are completely invisible.

    We are invisible in large part because we are different. And because of those joined factors, our health care is in a state of crisis. Compared to our fellow New York neighbors, we lack access to quality, culturally competent care, and we face a shortage of high-quality family care options. In fact,

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  • Latino New Yorkers Must Find Common Ground to Move Toward Progress

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    Puerto Rican Day Parade (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor’s Office)


    About 2.5 million New York City residents are Latino, making the community the second largest ethnic group in the city only after non-Latino whites. The majority of the city’s Latino population is U.S. born and nearly 80% say they speak Spanish at home.

    But despite strong population growth, Latino New Yorkers face a number of adverse conditions that continue to put constraints on their economic progress. About 26.4% of all Latino families live in poverty. That number jumps to 49.9%

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