Bronx Borough
President
Ruben Diaz Jr. first entered public office as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1997, and is currently serving his second full term as Bronx Borough President, having been reelected in November 2013 with more than 89 percent of the vote.
As borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr. has led the implementation of a robust agenda—on economic development, housing, education, and public safety—in every corner of the borough. The Bronx has seen over $9.4 billion in new development of all kinds since Borough President Diaz took office in 2009. This includes more than 23,000 new units of housing, and thousands of new jobs.
More than 15,000 new jobs have been created in The Bronx since 2009, thanks in large part to the continued partnership between Borough President Diaz, the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and those seeking to do business in the borough. As a result of those efforts, the unemployment rate in The Bronx has been cut nearly in half, and 100,000 more Bronx residents have jobs today than when Borough President Diaz took office seven years ago.
Borough President Diaz has also put forward a robust legislative agenda, having led the charge for a new “living wage” law in New York City, which passed in May 2012 and requires developers that receive heavy taxpayer funding for their project to pay the employees of that development a “living wage.” Borough President Diaz has also put forward legislation to create a letter grading system for nail salons and other cosmetology businesses and to develop a public registry of felony gun offenders.
On health, Borough President Diaz has also launched the his “#Not62” Initiative, aimed at improving social and economic factors that will help promote more positive health behaviors within for Bronx residents, including help attain better access to clinical care as well as well improve social and economic factors. In October 2015, The Bronx received The RWJF Culture of Health Prize, which honors communities which place a high priority on health and bring partners together to drive local change, in recognition of those efforts.
Since taking office in 2009 Borough President Diaz has provided millions in funding to projects of all types in every Bronx neighborhood, including new technology upgrades to borough schools, green roofs and boiler upgrades, park improvements and more.
Prior to his current role Borough President Diaz served seven terms in the State Legislature. During that time, he earned a reputation as a champion for working families in The Bronx and across New York State. He demonstrated a passion for constituent service, social advocacy, criminal justice reform and community empowerment balanced with support for sensible, green economic development and job creation programs. He also sponsored and secured passage of important and innovative laws to address the consequences of the intolerable levels of asthma in the South Bronx, healthcare insurance fraud, and quality of life concerns.
In the State Assembly, Ruben Diaz Jr. served as Chair of the Committee on Election Law and on the Assembly’s Standing Committees on Education, Ways & Means, Children and Families, Environmental Conservation and Transportation. He was also a member of the Assembly’s Puerto Rican and Hispanic Task Force and the Black/Puerto Rican and Asian Legislative Caucus.
A lifelong resident of the Bronx, Borough President Diaz lives in the Southeast Bronx with his wife Hilda Gerena Diaz and their two sons, Ruben Diaz III and Ryan Isaiah Diaz. He graduated from Lehman College, City University of New York, with a Bachelors degree in political theory. Borough President Diaz is also the recipient of honorary doctoral degrees in civil law from Berkeley College and Mercy College, and a doctoral degree in humane letters from the Metropolitan College of New York, and the President’s Medal from Hostos Community College.