Bronx Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo will resign from office at the end of the year, according to press reports. She cites “pressing family needs,” which could very well be the case. But the mere possibility of more corruption accusations headed toward a Bronx elected official (a few issues were raised during Arroyo’s last campaign, as I reported in City Limits) made me think of how depressingly common this is in our beautiful borough and beyond. Following is a list of 10 convicted Bronx elected officials I know of. Each name is linked to an article on their particular situation. (Some are articles from the Norwood News which I was editor of between 1994 and 2011.) If there are any I’m forgetting — and, unfortunately, that wouldn’t surprise me — please add your comments or email me at bronxmatters@gmail.com and I’ll include them in a future post.
State Senator (who later became Councilman) Israel Ruiz
Councilman Pedro G. Espada (son of Sate Senator)
Rep. Roberto Garcia lost his seat (now occupied by Jose Serrano) when he was convicted in the Wedtech scandal. An appeals court later reversed the conviction and the feds decided not to retry him.