Calling Councilman Cabrera

Meant to put this up earlier in the week. 

Here's the working phone number for 14th District Councilman Fernando Cabrera's new office, located at 107 E. Burnside Ave., just off of Morris Avenue and about two blocks west of the Grand Concourse:

(347) 590-2874 (You can also reach them at 2875, 2876, 2877 and 2878)

Cabrera's made it abundantly clear that he wants people calling these numbers, stopping by, hanging out, asking for help and even creating new problems at his district office.

His skeleton crew staff, pictured here from left to right, constituent services workers Anthony Springer, Timothy Tapia and Chief of Staff Greg Faulkner, have already achieved their first taste of successful advocacy.

Yesterday, a young area couple was in the office looking for assistance after being denied shelter by the city's Department of Homeless Services (DHS). After contacting DHS, a case worker soon called back and said they would be there in 10 minutes. Maybe 8 minutes later, the case worker showed up. They went over the couple's case and, although they haven't quite worked out all the details, the couple was at least given temporary shelter.

Imagine the possibilities. Give the Councilman a call.

14th Election Results Won't Be Certified Until Thursday

The Norwood News is on deadline tonight and hoped to be able to declare, once and for all, who had officially won the the 14th District Council race.

Last we heard, challenger Fernando Cabrera was up on incumbent Maria Baez by 69 votes following an initial recount.

Alas, it was not meant to be. News reporter Molly Ryan found out earlier today that the Board of Elections will not certify the results until at least Thursday.

Earlier this morning, BOE spokesperson Valerie Vasquez-Rivera said the board would meet at 1 p.m. and that they would make a decision on certification by 3 p.m. But when Ryan called back at 3:30 p.m., Vasquez-Rivera (the wife of Baez-ally and Council majority leader Joel Rivera, in case you were wondering) said the board is still waiting for any snail mail absentee ballots to trickle into their offices and would make another certification call on Thursday.

In order to count toward the election, absentee ballots would have to be post-marked by election day, which was last Tuesday, Sept. 15.

So, rest assured, 14th Council District absentee voters in the heart of the Congolese jungle or rural Nepal, your vote will be counted.

Update: BOE spokesperson Valery Vasquez-Rivera just called us to point out that the Board's priority at yesterday's meeting was to certify the leaders in the public advocate and comptroller's races since there is a runoff for both planned for next Tuesday. No other close Council race, even one in Queens where the incumbent is ahead by only 5 votes, was certified yesterday. Stay tuned.

It's (Almost) Official: After Re-Count, Cabrera Up By 69, Heastie Says

The machine votes for the 14th District Council race have been re-counted, all the paper ballots (absentee and affidavit) have been tallied and Fernando Cabrera is still in the lead over Maria Baez by about 69 votes, said Democratic County Chairman Carl Heastie in a phone interview.

Heastie said the Board of Elections will make it official on Tuesday.

At the end of Tuesday's primary, Cabrera, a pastor and college professor, was up by 90 votes. So Baez, who refused to concede on Tuesday, gained a little ground in the re-count, but not enough to make a difference. Instead of sticking around for the re-count (and City Council meetings), Baez went on vacation. That may be an indicator of what she thought of her chances.

"But this isn't about beating up Maria Baez," Heastie said.

It's about injecting "fresh blood and new energy" into the Council, he said. "Cabrera has a tremendous background. He's a pastor and a counselor, so he can relate to the struggles that families here are going through. And he's going to be present."

Okay, so based on that last remark, it's a little bit about Baez, who was beat up continually for her lack of presence at not only City Council meetings, but also local community board meetings.

As for the slim margin of victory, Heastie told Liz Benjamin at the Daily News: "I don't care if you win the Super Bowl by one point or 30, you're still champion."

We'll have full primary election coverage of the 14th and 1th district races in the Norwood News next Thursday.

Primary Postcard: Cabrera's Team Celebrates Close (Yet Unofficial) Victory

The mood in Maestro's catering hall in Morris Park was quietly cheerful last night at about 9:30 p.m. There were no televisions in the banquet hall, but the results of the day's Democratic primaries were trickling in via text messages and e-mail blasts to the 100 or so Fernando Cabrera supporters milling about in blue shirts.

Cabrera, the pastor of New Life International Outreach Church and an upstart challenger in the 14th Council District, was nowhere to be found.

Food was served, drinks were consumed and rumors were flying.

"Word is Maria's out," said John DeSio, a spokesman for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

"I'm hearing good things," said Cabrera's communications director Fernando Aquino.

Two young Cabrera soldiers were talking to reporters as if they were giving a post-game victory speech.

Word slipped into the room: Cabrera's up.

Then the music started. At least 30 campaign staffers piled onto the small stage toward one end of the hall and started banging on hand drums, dancing and chanting in Spanish: "The Cabrera era has begun!"

Carlos Feliciano, a campaign volunteer and youth minister with New Life, jumped on stage, the music still rocking. Some early results were in. Maria Baez, 34 percent. Fernando Cabrera, 41.

Celebration ensued. The dancers, chanters and drummers spilled onto the dance floor, forming the equivalent of huge chaotic conga line.

Then, for a while, nothing.

Fifteen minutes later, somebody says Baez is now in the lead, but it's close. Outside, in the lobby, Daily News Bronx bureau chief Bob "Kappy" Kappstatter is holding court with new numbers from his source within the Board of Elections. With 98 percent of the vote in, Cabrera is up a grand total of FIVE votes, you could count them on one hand.

There's discussion of what this means. Where's the other 2 percent?

Suddenly, there's commotion, everyone starts filing back into the main hall. Community Board 7 Chairman Greg Faulkner, who was instrumental in Cabrera's campaign since its inception two years ago, says, "It's a done deal." How many votes? "It's over. 90 votes," he says.

[Technically, nothing is official at this point and in the west Bronx, a defiant Baez is refusing to concede.]

No matter. Campaigners are now hugging and crying. The word is out. Cabrera did it.

"We did it!" everyone is saying.

Soon a procession is barreling into the hall. Diaz Jr. and his father Ruben Diaz, Sr. (in full cowboy gear) walk through the gantlet of cheering supporters. Carl Heastie, the Democratic Pary Chairman who took a gamble by choosing to back Cabrera, a former Republican, against a Democratic incumbent, walks through confidently.

Then, it's the man of the hour, of the day, Pastor Fernando Cabrera, grinning from ear to ear, high fiving and fist pumping his way to the stage.

Heastie takes the mic first. "I'd like to introduce you to the new Democratic nominee for City Council in the 14th District, FERNANDO CABRERA!"

More pandemonium, cheering and hugging. It was, for even the most impartial observer, exciting.

The pastor's first words: "God did it and you did it!" Nuts. The whole place went nuts.

"Some people questioned whether this was going to happen," Cabrera went on. "I'm here to tell you that not only was it going to happen, it did happen!" More madness.

Later he would go on to thank everyone involved in the campaign for all their hard work, etc., etc. But before all that:

"We're going to start a new era of leadership in the Bronx and the best is yet to come!"

As a reporter, there were still loads of unanswered questions hanging in the air as to how this would all shake out, logistically and otherwise. But the question I kept asking myself was: Are those goose bumps?

-All Photos by David Greene

14th City Council District Gears Up for a Recount

Although at the end of last night 14th district City Council candidate Fernando Cabrera had 90 more votes than the incumbent, Maria Baez, Cabrera is not officially the Democratic primary winner. In fact, none of the primary elections have official winners yet.

Last night, when the polling sites closed at 9 p.m., polling officials gave their primary election results to the police, who then publically disclosed the information. However, under New York City Board of Elections policy, these voting results are not official.

The election results released from the polls are usually a clear indicator of who has won the race, but in each race every poll and paper vote needs to be counted and approved by the Board of Elections before a winner can be determined. In close races, such as in the 14th City Council district, the official Board of Elections count could possibly result in a different winner than in the original poll count.

According to Valerie Vasquez-Rivera, a spokesperson for the Board of Elections, the Board of Elections will follow normal recanvasing procedures where a bipartisan team opens up polling machines to get an official ballot count and then counts and validates all paper ballots (such as absentee ballots). Vasquez-Rivera expects the recanvasing procedures to be finished by September 21. All campaigns are welcome to observe the official Board of Elections counting process.

Baez would have to obtain a high majority of paper ballots to win the primary (see our post here), but she has refused to concede the race.

It is expected that Baez will continue to fight for her council seat to the bitter end.

Bronx City Council Election Results

As the Democratic primary election results for Bronx City Council members rolled in last night, it became clear that most incumbents have a strong hold on their seats for another four years.

Out of the eight Bronx City Council districts, only four incumbents had challengers in the primary election. Out of those four City Council elections, three incumbents kept a firm hold of their position, while another appears to be out.

In the 11th City Council district, incumbent Oliver Koppell was challenged by Tony Perez Cassino. Despite a heated primary campaign race, Koppell won the primary with 63.9% of the vote. Koppell had 5,348 votes and Cassino had 3,021 votes.

In the 12th City Council district, incumbent Larry Seabrook scraped by to win 55.28 % of the vote despite a series of controversial financial accusations. Seabrook defeated Andy King, Jerome Rice and Sebastian Ulanga in the primary. Seabrook had 4,871 votes, King had 2,830 votes, Rice had 778 votes and Ulanga had 333 votes.

In the 16th City Council district, incumbent Helen Foster defeated political newcomer Carlos Sierra with 60.54% of the vote. Foster had 2,654 votes and Sierra had 1,730 votes.

In the 14th City Council district, Fernando Cabrera has a good chance of replacing the incumbent, Maria Baez. Last night, poll counts listed Cabrera as having 1,937 votes, Baez as having 1,847 votes and Yudelka Tapia as having 1,250 votes.

The above numbers are still unofficial and not yet approved by the Board of Elections. Although the poll count is usually a good indicator of the winning candidate, in close races such as the 14th District City Council primary, official numbers are needed to declare the winner.

More information on the 14th district City Council race to come.

Cabrera Camp Confident in Victory in 14th

Just a few thoughts before we call it a night.

While Maria Baez refused to concede to her opponent, Fernando Cabrera, who ended the night up by 90 votes in the 14th Council District primary, the Cabrera camp is extremely confident that it will prevail after all the extra votes are counted.

Here's why.

Greg Faulkner, the chair of Community Board 7, who was heavily involved in Cabrera's campaign, told me that they found out all the names and addresses of the voters who requested absentee ballots, which will need to be counted before Cabrera is declared the victor. (There may be a few affidavit ballots left to count as well.)

First of all, Faulkner said there were only about 125 absentee voters in the district, meaning Baez would have to take 91 of those, or 72%, which doesn't seem likely based on the results tonight.

Secondly, Faulkner said Cabrera was the only 14th District candidate who requested the addresses of, and targeted, those voters.

Having said that, this could still take a while and I expect Baez to not go down quietly.

Tune in tomorrow, or actually later today, for more details about the primary results and all the action surrounding the results.

Primary Postcard: Tapia Remains Confident Despite "Issues"

Inside it was hard to tell that a primary election was taking place at P.S. 163, where candidate Yudelka Tapia, cast her vote at around 11 a.m. this morning. Bored-looking poll workers outnumbered voters. Outside was a different story. All three District 14 candidates' brochures and fliers littered the streets and posters covered telephone polls. Tapia even had a convertible driving up and down the Concourse adorned with her campaign material.

However, very few people felt that the community in District 14 was even aware that voting was taking place. The Poll Coordinator at P.S. 163, Steven Caughman, blames the candidates, "I don't think they have been campaigning the way they should have." He continued, "You ask somebody who so and so is and they say, 'who?'"

Sallie Smith, a registered voter in District 15, echoed Caughman's sentiment. "They can pass out all they want to on the day of (the primary), but it is brainwashing. They ought to have seen them before," she said.

Tapia had a more optimistic outlook as she cast her vote saying that people were coming out for change. "I feel good. I'm winning tonight. Today after 9 p.m. is another era," she said.

Despite her confidence in winning the primary, Tapia claimed that there had been a number of issues already today, alleging that Maria Baez had gone with police at PS 33 and PS 70 to break down her campaign stands. The Baez campaign could not be reached for comment and the 44th Police Precinct could not immediately confirm the accusation.

Tapia also contended that the lever for her name was broken at PS 64. However, Mona Turner, the Poll Coordinator at the site, refuted the claim stating that the entire machine was broken from the "time they checked it with the first voter." The site had to use emergency ballots until just before noon when the machine was fixed. Turner reassured voters, "No votes were missing and everyone got to vote."

Outside the school, both Baez and Cabrera had campaigners on the street corner wearing support T-shirts and shouting rally cries at each other.

Voters were a mixed bag. Although many felt the most important issues to them were neighborhood safety and job creation, their candidate selections varied.

Vioneiry Dominguez cast her ballot for Cabrera, because "He (Cabrera) will make a change for the youth. He has made more contact with young people than the other candidates."

A Baez supporter who wished to remain anonymous, defended the candidates City Council attendance record, "People say she didn't attend the meetings, but she has attended to the community and has the most experience."

The majority of Tapia's support was at P.S. 163 where one voter praised her as a "strong woman."

Note: The reporting for this post was done by Katie Riordan and Molly Ryan.

Primary Postcard: Cabrera Votes Amid Signs of a Low Turnout

This is the first in a series of posts today about the primary election happening today in the Bronx and throughout the city. As we mentioned last night, there are four City Council contests worth watching: the 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th.

At about 9:20 a.m., I walked into PS 86, which is right across the street from the Kingsbridge Armory. Fernando Cabrera, one of two challengers trying to unseat incumbent Maria Baez in the 14th District, emerged from one of the voting booths. After a quick photo op (below; I apologize for the quality), his wife also voted. Because Baez voted earlier at PS 33, down the road on Jerome Avenue, I believe that puts Cabrera ahead, 2-1. We have an upset brewing!


In all seriousness, though, Cabrera and his wife were the only ones voting. I saw one other voter leave right before I arrived. Looks like another year of low turnout on primary day.

It's hard to say who a low turnout favors. Traditionally, a low turnout helps the candidate backed by the party and the biggest unions, which would tilt the scales toward Cabrera. But usually it helps the incumbent just based on name recognition. Say what you will about Baez, but people know who she is. That alone will get her votes. There's a third candidate, Yudelka Tapia, who is wild card in this race. It's unclear how she will impact the race. [More on her coming up later.]

Regardless, Cabrera said he slept soundly last night after spending the evening knocking on doors, putting in the work and trying to win supporters. "I've done everything I could do," he said.

His communications director, Fernando Aquino, after snapping some pictures of the Democratic Party's hand-picked candidate, said he felt the same way. "I think we've really gotten our message out there and people are responding to it," Aquino said.

Still, it's not going to be easy. As we mentioned last night, incumbent have won 97% of Council races over the past two decades and Baez has her people out in force today. Aquino said he thought Baez had been saving all her campaign funds for today's get-out-the-vote festivities.

It's on. Stay tuned...

Live 14th District Council Candidates Debate, Tonight, 9 p.m., BRONXNET

Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. to BronxTalk (BRONXNET, Cablevision channel 67) and find out where the candidates of the 14th District Council race stand on all the important issues facing the northwest Bronx and local residents.

The show will be airing on BRONXNET at 9 p.m. for the rest of the week as well.

Candidates Yudelka Tapia and Fernando Cabrera will be answering questions from Bronx News Network editors Alex Kratz and James Fergusson. The debate will be moderated by veteran Bronx talk show host Gary Axelbank.

As we mentioned before, the incumbent in the 14th District, Maria Baez, has declined to appear with the other candidates to talk about the issues.

Update: You can also watch the live debate stream on the Web at http://bronxnet.org/home/live/webstreamtrial.html

In-Depth Profiles of the 14th District Council Candidates

The latest edition of the Norwood News is on the streets and online now. This is issue is saturated with great news and interesting feature stories (we'll have our full preview up on the blog soon), including in-depth profiles of the three candidates vying for the 14th Council District seat.

Click on the name, get the scoop on the candidate:

Yudelka Tapia

Fernando Cabrera

Maria Baez

Get informed before our 14th District candidates debate on Monday, August 31, at 9 p.m. on BRONXNET (Channel 67, Cablevision). Feel free to submit questions for the debate in the comments section. Or e-mail your questions to bronxnewsnetwork@gmail.com.

And don't forget to vote on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Diaz Endorses Cabrera, Calls Him 'Perfect Fit'

In a move that will surprise no one, Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, has endorsed Fernando Cabrera in the 14th District City Council race.

In a press release sent out this afternoon by Cabrera's campaign, Diaz said:

It is rare that you have an opportunity to endorse someone that you feel is a perfect fit. The 14th District needs a strong and visible leader, someone who will stand up for its people, their rights and their desires. Pastor Fernando Cabrera is all that the district needs and more. I look forward to working with him to make the Bronx a better place to live, raise a family and work. I urge everyone in the 14th district cast their vote for him on September 15th.

Espaillat calls Tapia a 'Bad Dominican'

Yudelka Tapia's campaign wants Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat to apologize after he allegedly called her a "bad Dominican" during last Sunday's Dominican Day Parade.

Espaillat, a Dominican-American who represents parts of Upper Manhattan, has endorsed Fernando Cabrera, an opponent of Tapia's in the race for the 14th District City Council seat.

"In our community there are good Dominicans and there are bad Dominicans and that is why I am supporting Fernando Cabrera," Espillat told the Public Access show Contacto, according to Tapia's campaign.

"Assemblyman Espillat [sic] needs to apologize to all of the women of the Bronx for maligning one of our most distinguished community leaders," said Lucila Rutinel, who heads the Committee Dominicanas for Yudelka, in a press release. "In this climate when so many public officials have come under investigatory scrutiny it is offensive for Assemblyman Espiallat [sic] to refer to our sister - whom he knows well - as a Bad Dominican."