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District 10 - Council Member - Democrat - Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill - Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, represents the 10th Council District, which includes the neighborhoods of Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill. There is literally no other greater champion for our community, our voice. These neighborhoods, filled with hardworking residents, continuously strive to maintain a robust and authentic identity of a multicultural, working class community. However, the city’s aggressive transformation has inadvertently imperiled the district’s position as an ethnic enclave of working class people filled with immigrants. It is, ergo, imperative that District 10 synchronizes their wealth of opportunities and growth potential into actionable plans. Ydanis recognizes this unique, and yet, powerful position of the district. He wholeheartedly believes and knows the district can seize the future by pioneering the cultivation of a technological and health hub. He envisions District 10 developing into a conglomeration of advancement, diversity, and empowered community through private-public partnerships infused with mixed use of resources. Given Council Member Rodriguez’s recent accomplishments – both city and municipal wide – we can confidently trust and know District 10 is, indeed, bound to actualizing this reality. District 10 would not be the way it is without its main visionary crusader and incomparable public servant: Ydanis Rodriguez. Ydanis has championed progressive agendas within transportation, education, economic development, affordable housing, healthcare, and environmental protection to ensure that all working and low-income families, newcomers and youth have a fair chance of breaking into the middle class and beyond. We have all witnessed what it truly means to be a public servant through the success of the Council Member. Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez has embodied the true essence of advocacy, activism and leadership since his days as a student at the City University of New York (CUNY). As a student leader, he challenged a proposal that would increase the cost of tuition for more than 93,000 CUNY students by over a thousand dollars. At City College in Harlem, Ydanis led a student’s movement that persuaded Governor Mario Cuomo to veto his own proposal. This protest not only signaled the beginning of an education focused agenda, but was also a testament to Ydanis’s leadership. Ydanis expanded on his desire to help others when he co-founded Gregorio Luperon High School in Washington Heights, a school that focused on supporting newly arrived immigrants from Latin America transitioning to the American educational system. For 13 years as a teacher, Ydanis impacted the lives of many students – many of whom have become affluent, professional, American citizens. As a legislator, Ydanis has stood at the forefront of issues most important to New Yorkers. He has led and co-led 37 bills. He has focused on protecting and improving the rights of women, immigrants, workers and all New Yorkers who seek social justice. His efforts during the Occupy Wall Street protests were recognized when he garnered Time Magazine’s 2011 Person of the Year. In fact, Ydanis furthered his mission to bring about changes by suing the City of New York for violating his constitutional rights by impeding his right to Freedom of Speech and unlawfully arresting him. Settling the case awarded him approximately $30,000 and brought attention to the inefficient, excessive practices of police force. He donated the settlement money to the Center for Constitutional Right. As Chairman of the NYC Council Transportation Committee, Ydanis’s work includes the passage of 14 bills to ensure pedestrian and cyclist safety. (For Council Member Rodriguez full bio see: https://council.nyc.gov/district-10/
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