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A New Dominican Face in Bronx Politics

Nelson Castro, campaigning in the Bronx for NY State Assembly

Few people inside or outside of Bronx political circles knew much about Nelson Castro just a few months ago. Yet in a short time, Mr. Castro, a 36-year-old former coordinator with a health insurance company, has positioned himself to become the first Dominican-born member of the Legislature from the Bronx.

Mr. Castro was deeply involved in Democratic politics in Washington Heights, the heart of the Dominican community in New York City. He was once chief of staff to Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, the first Dominican member of the Assembly. But he and Mr. Espaillat had a less-than-amicable parting of the ways. He moved to the Bronx three years ago and started to work with civic groups in the University Heights area.

This year, he decided to run for district leader against the incumbent, Hector Ramirez. But before that campaign got off the ground, the Assemblyman in the district, Luis Diaz, resigned to take a community affairs position in the administration of Gov. David A. Paterson.

Assemblyman Diaz had already obtained signatures for his petitions to get on the ballot for the Sept. 9 Democratic primary, when he decided not to run, so that placed the decision about a replacement on the ballot with a committee on vacancies, a five-member panel consisting of people close to the Bronx Democratic organization and its chairman, Assemblyman Jose Rivera.

After interviewing a number of aspirants, the committee selected Mr. Castro.

“I want to continue the work that Luis Diaz did in his years in the Assembly,” Mr. Castro said. “He did a lot of work with seniors and I want to continue that. I also want to develop more programs to keep kids in school and to expand on child care programs for women with kids.”

Of course, it will not be a completely easy run for Mr. Castro. He faces a Democratic primary opponent, Mike Soto. Mr. Soto is the brother of Richard Soto, a politically active business man in the Bronx who has run for office in the past. But Mr. Soto has campaigned little if at all and his telephone number is not accepting messages (the memory is full, the recording said).

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Yankee Stadium Bonds Request Defended as Good for the Bronx

The Bloomberg administration is defending its decision to seek additional tax-exempt bonds for the new Yankee Stadium, pointing to the new jobs, increased revenue, and parkland the project will bring to the Bronx.

The new Yankee Stadium, scheduled to be ready for Opening Day 2009, has already received $942 million in tax-exempt financing, but the Yankees are seeking additional tax-exempt bonds that would primarily fund “scope improvements” such as a scoreboard, concession stands, and other stadium amenities.

Since the Tax Reform Act was enacted in 1986, private developers have faced more restrictions when trying to get tax-exempt bonds for stadiums. In 2006, the Yankees, with the support of the Bloomberg administration, avoided such restrictions by having the city and state pay off the bond debt with money received from the Yankees, also known as payment in lieu of taxes.

The IRS is in the process of closing this loophole, but city officials are requesting that they not.

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