A minute and a half into the above clip, you'll see a passionate and touching performance of the Puerto Rican national anthem turned in by Bronx State Senator Gustavo Rivera at last weekend's Somos El Futuro conference in Albany. Seriously. Not bad, right? Next stop: Albany Idol.
According to Rivera's communications director Conchita Cruz, the new state senator in the 33rd District is an avid singer who won an award for his killer karaoke work over the weekend. (He was also honored for pushing transparency legislation this year, Cruz said. And no, he still does not have a district office yet, almost four months into his term, but there's been progress, Cruz said. A lease has been signed and is now awaiting approval from the Comptroller and Attorney General. Cruz said she was forbidden from going into details about the procurement process, but said basically it's just a sad case of Albany bureaucracy grinding slowly.)
In any case, Rivera's passion for music led him to recently pass a senate resolution, his first since taking office in January, praising and congratulating the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music choir for being named "Best Choir in New York City" at the Sing! for Wildlife competition a few months ago. "These kids are an inspiration," Rivera said in introducing the resolution.
He added: "It is a testament to the importance of Arts education in our schools. The way they became a tight choral organization, how they used the arts to not only learn how to perform, but to perform better at school."
He'll be presenting the resolution to the choir tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. at Lehman College, where the choir rehearses. Who knows? Rivera might even make a cameo at their next concert.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Talented Mr. Rivera Honors Bronx's Celia Cruz Singers
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Did anyone bother to ask Mr. Rivera why he doesn't have a district office open yet? Why are you guys not jumping all over him the same way you attacked Pedro Espada? Is it that you couldn't stand a powerful Latino like Mr. Espada?
ReplyDeleteGreat performance by Senator Rivera!
ReplyDeleteSo Somos is for Puertoricans only? What happened to the Dominican anthem? One more reason why I refuse to attend Somos this year! SOMEDAY
I take that back... should have watched the entire video... hey, who's perfect?
ReplyDeleteReal hard-hitting journalism here Bxnn. This man doesn't have a district office 4 months into his term and you hold him up for singing a song in Albany. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWow! You starting taking jabs at Espada as early as January 23 of his term for not being punctual in his opening of a district office. Here's a snippet:
ReplyDelete"Most of New York's newly elected state senators (there are seven in all) were similarly punctual and organized, meaning constituents, right off the bat, had somewhere to go to access services and air concerns.
Two senators, however, even deep into January, have yet to follow suit. One is Roy J. McDonald (Republican - Rensselaer/Saratoga); the other, the Bronx's Pedro Espada Jr., whose focus has likely been elsewhere in recent weeks (here and here)."
and the link to the whole post:
http://www.bronxnewsnetwork.org/2009/01/espada-yet-to-open-district-office.html
"even deep into January"!?!? It's early APRIL and you haven't held Rivera's feet to the fire.
Additionally, why were you calling property managers and questioning Mr. Espada about his district office as early as March 18th of his term (see your own post:
http://www.bronxnewsnetwork.org/2009/03/more-on-espadas-district-office.html
, but here it is April 7th and you write things like "there has been progress" and "it's just a sad case of Albany bureaucracy grinding slowly." ?
It seems like a biased double standard. Can you address the different coverage of an identical issue?
Dear Mr. Haile Rivera, former campaign and Senate staffer for Pedro Espada. We have this dilemma -- your former boss, Pedro Espada, Jr., has not filed any information on how he paid you for your campaign work. (Nor has he filed any info, as required by law, on how he paid any campaign staff.) In the interest of openness, and to demonstrate that you can not abide by such lawlessness -- please release all information you have on how much you and other campaign staff got paid and which accounts these payments were drawn on. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteHey, Haile, why don't you run against Senator Rivera? We need somebody who will actually be in the district working for our people. I don't see this guy around and he can't even get an office going.
ReplyDeleteWill bnn do its job and investigate Rivera as they did espada or does Rivera get a pass because bnn campaigned for him?
ReplyDeletehow long did it take other bronx elected's to open their offices? Maybe you guys are being unfair to Gustavo here...
ReplyDeleteRivera is a joke of a senator...this guy ran his campaign by paining former Senator Espada as a bad person. The fact is Rivera has no idea what he is doing and he won because of the timing of Espada being attacked. Our district needs someone that can run for office on his or her own morals and has a plan for the future of the Bronx not a singing Senator who can't even open a district office.
ReplyDelete