Dean Humphrey Crookendale invites you to join him on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, in welcoming Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. as the School for Public Affairs and Administration’s next speaker in its “Urban Dialogue” series. Borough President Diaz will speak and take questions from 6 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. at the college’s Bronx campus.

Who:              Metropolitan College of New York is honored to host Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz, Jr. as he conducts an “Urban Dialogue”.

What:             “Urban Dialogue” is a presentation and discussion on crucial issues affecting urban communities.  The Series provides a forum in which scholars, legislators, policy makers, students, and citizens can exchange ideas and discuss issues and trends that affect New York City and other urban centers across the nation.

Where:          Metropolitan College of New York Bronx Campus, 463 East 149th Street, Bronx NY (between Bergen and Brooke Avenues), Community Commons, 2nd floor

When:            Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 6:00 p.m. to 7:40 p.m.

Why:              Presented by MCNY’s School for Public Affairs and Administration, the goal of the “Urban Dialogue” series is to foster better understanding among scholars, experts, students, policymakers and ordinary citizens of the public policies that shape the life of New York City and other urban centers.

Guests – Please RSVP

Press – for additional information on this event, please contact:

Tina Georgiou, tgeorgiou@mcny.edu, 646-648-0694

David Hahn, dhahn@mcny.edu

About Metropolitan College of New York:

Audrey Cohen, an educational visionary and activist founded the Women’s Talent Corps in 1964. Through development and training for new professional positions, the Talent Corps created employment for thousands of people. It became The College for Human Services, later Audrey Cohen College, and today Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY).  For over 50 years, MCNY has continued the tradition of offering highly motivated learners an education that combines applied skills with professional knowledge to effect personal transformation and positive change in the workplace and community.  MCNY is a not-for-profit, accredited, independent college. Year-round offerings accelerate degree completion, and a unique approach to learning permits close integration of workplace activities and study. MCNY locations are in the Financial District at 60 West Street, New York, NY 10006 and in the Bronx at 463 East 149th Street, Bronx, NY 10455.  For more information on MCNY, visit mcny.edu or call 800.33.THINK.

About Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr:

Ruben Diaz Jr. first entered public office as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1997 and is currently serving his third full term as Bronx Borough President, having been reelected in November 2017.

As borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr. has led the implementation of a robust agenda—on economic development, housing, health and wellness, education, and public safety—in every corner of the borough. The Bronx has seen over $15.4 billion in new development of all kinds since Borough President Diaz took office in 2009. This includes more than 36,000 new units of housing, most of it built for lower-income families.

Thousands of 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 more than 117,000 more Bronx residents have jobs today than when Borough President Diaz took office nine years ago.

Much of this success is driven by new infrastructure improvements, and Borough President Diaz has helped bring significant new projects to the borough. This includes the East Bronx Metro-North expansion, which will bring new commuter rail service to Co-op City, Morris Park/Van Nest, Parkchester and Hunts Point; the future redevelopment of the Sheridan Expressway and the reconstruction of the historic Orchard Beach Pavilion, among others.

Borough President Diaz is also working to improve the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), in order to make public housing safer and healthier for the more than 400,000 residents who call it their home. During his early childhood years, the borough president lived in NYCHA’s Moore Houses in Mott Haven, and later spent much of his teenage years in the former Bronxdale Houses in Soundview. Throughout his more than two decades in public service, he has worked to improve the lives of NYCHA tenants. As borough president, he led the citywide charge for an emergency declaration to allow the agency to speed the procurement process and make necessary repairs faster and convened a public housing task force to examine safety issues in NYCHA.

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 that 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 tens of 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. They have two sons, Ruben Diaz III, and Ryan Isaiah Diaz. He graduated from Lehman College, City University of New York, with a Bachelor’s 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.