Fernando Ferrer
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Fernando James "Freddy" Ferrer (born April 30, 1950 in the Bronx, New York) was the Borough President of The Bronx from 1987 to 2001, and was a candidate for Mayor of New York in 2001 and the Democratic Party nominee for Mayor in 2005.
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Background
Ferrer grew up on Fox Street in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx and was raised by his mother and by his grandmother, who worked in the kitchen of the Waldorf-Astoria. Ferrer graduated from Catholic schools in the Bronx: St Anslem elementary school and Cardinal Spellman High School. He attended New York University before he got involved in community service as a student. Ferrer entered politics, and was elected to the New York City Council at the age of 32. Remembering how he had to translate for his grandmother when she was hospitalized, he authored legislation requiring interpreters in city emergency rooms. Ferrer went on to chair the Health Committee, fight for anti-discrimination laws on behalf of gays and lesbians, and lead the fight for a Civilian Complaint Review Board for the NYPD.
Currently, Ferrer resides in the relatively affluent Riverdale section of the Bronx. Though both Riverdale and Ferrer's native Hunts Point are located in the Bronx, they are the wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods in the borough, respectively.
Bronx Borough President
Ferrer began his 14-year tenure as Bronx borough president when the Bronx was a symbol of urban decay and neglect. National attention led to a Federal commitment to rebuild. During the Ferrer administration housing was created for about 66,000 families. The borough saw a significant drop in crime, particularly in the South Bronx neighborhood, and a steady rise in business and real estate investment.
2001 Mayoral Campaign
In 2001, Ferrer ran for the Democratic nomination for mayor. He won the first primary with 34%, but failed to win the necessary 40% to secure the nomination and ultimately lost a divisive runoff election to Mark Green. Ferrer, who is of Puerto Rican descent, received a high level of support from Hispanic voters.
2005 Mayoral Campaign
Ferrer was the Democratic candidate for mayor, losing in the general election to incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2005 (see New York City mayoral election, 2005).
During the campaign, Ferrer proposed reviving a stock transfer tax for Wall Street to help pay for education; this tax ended in 1981. Ferrer sought to create 167,000 homes, proposed hiring 1,900 new police officers, supported same-sex marriage, opposed the Urstadt law, supported the Second Avenue Subway and was opposed to tolls on the East River bridges. On October 23, Ferrer proposed Home Owner Property Exemption, or HOPE, a tax break for homeowners with a home property value of less than $100,000.
A theme of his election campaign was called the Two New Yorks. This is the conclusion of his stump speech:
- This is not about one New York against the other, this is about building a city united in opportunity, where all of us live under the blessing of possibility.
- There are two New Yorks. I have lived in both of them. Born in one, I crossed the bridge of hope and opportunity into the other, but I have never forgotten where I came from.
- That bridge took me from shinning shoes on 149th Street and Southern Boulevard to this place where possibility opened up for me. It took me from Fox Street to the nomination of the Democratic Party to be Mayor of my hometown.
- It is that bridge that is the most important human infrastructure project, the bridge with planks of hope and opportunity that most be carefully maintained by a mayor who has never forgotten the millions of New Yorkers must be able to walk over that bridge too.
- And I will never stop fighting for what I believe in until every New Yorker can cross that bridge – and live in the greatest city in the world, with every opportunity they deserve, and where every dream—the way my mother believed—is possible.
His campaign was hurt by remarks he made in March 2005 concerning the Amadou Diallo shooting. Ferrer, who'd marched in protest against the shooting when it occurred, expressed his belief to the New York City Police Department Sergeant's Benevolent Association that the incident was a "tragedy," but "not a crime." He was strongly criticized by Diallo's family and others for these remarks, and he slid in popularity polls, especially among African-Americans.
Opponents such as Christopher X. Brodeur criticized Ferrer for being part of the powerful, corrupt Bronx political machine.
In the primary election held on September 13, 2005, the first tally indicated that Ferrer garnered 39.95% of the final vote. He needed 40% to avoid a runoff, but Anthony D. Weiner, the second place finisher, conceded, thus ensuring Ferrer would advance to the general election. A final count of the total votes indicated that Ferrer actually received 40.15% of the votes.
Over the course of the campaign he was endorsed by Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer, Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards, as well as Howard Dean, Reverend Al Sharpton, the Working Families Party and former mayor David Dinkins.
Bill Clinton endorsed Ferrer on October 20. Despite the importance of the endorsement, local media such as 1010 WINS: emphasized minor snafus, arguing that "Ferrer's golden opportunity was nearly wasted as miscommunication between Clinton's office and Ferrer's campaign caused some snags and disarray." Ferrer's camp alleged that precisely this sort of pervasive anti-Ferrer media bias significantly affected the campaign.
Neoconservative political analyst Fred Siegal summarized Ferrer's campaign in The New Republic [1]:
- If anyone doubted the hapless nature of Ferrer's campaign they had only to watch his ads featuring the rotund Reverend Al Sharpton salsa dancing. In Fernando Ferrer's losing bid for mayor, that was about as innovative as things got.
Ferrer's campaign was hurt when the New York Times and other big newspapers vehemently endorsed Mike Bloomberg. Also, Ferrer's campaign relied mainly on small contributions, compared to Bloomberg's $80 million from his personal billion dollar fortune.
Bloomberg defeated Ferrer by a margin of 19 percent.
See also
External links
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