What You Should Know

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz

32nd Senatorial District, Bronx County, New York

Tel. 718-991-3161

Rudy Giuliani: Mayor Again?

As you may know, rumor has it that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani may once again be a candidate for New York City Mayor in the 2013 race.

If this is true and Rudy Giuliani decides to throw his hat in the ring, it will be very interesting. I am certain that Giuliani will be getting more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in the City due to the fact that among all who have served as Mayor of NYC, no Mayor had ever appointed more Hispanics to serve in higher positions than Rudy Giuliani.

Among those in high positions under Giuliani, we have to remember and mention the names of Herman Badillo, who served as Educational Advisor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of CUNY; Ninfa Segarra who served as Deputy Mayor for Education and Human Services; Ruben Franco who served as Chairman for the NYC Housing Authority; Walter Alicea who served as the Housing Authority's Deputy General Manager for Operations; Manny Papier who served as Giuliani’s Deputy Chief of Staff; Yolanda Jimenez who served as the NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Community Affairs – and many others.

To that, we have to add Giuliani’s strong leadership and outstanding performance in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 - and six years prior to that, how he confronted PLO Leader Yasser Arafat having him expelled from a concert for world leaders at Lincoln Center.

We cannot forget how, despite some criticism Giuliani got for his heavy-handed way of approaching things, the City of New York got cleaner, squeegees were removed, and crime went down like never before. It was rare to see abandoned cars in the street and motorists changing their tires because of broken bottles – and he cleaned up Time Square changing it from one of New York’s worst areas for drugs and prostitution to the worldwide attraction it is today.

You should also know that the Democratic candidates who are running for Mayor: City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Controller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, former City Controller William Thompson – and anyone else who decides to run – will all have a hard time competing with Rudy Giuliani even though, if he runs, Giuliani would be on the Republican Line.

For me, I have to say that I am grateful to Rudy Giuliani. During his Administration, more than 550 members of New York’s Hispanic community from many churches were placed in NYC Housing to work as caretakers. I was appointed by Giuliani to the New York Civilian Complaint Review Board, and that was where I met my good friend and brother, Christopher Lynn.

I believe that the heart of New York is with America’s Mayor, and I believe that in these precarious times, New York City needs Rudy Giuliani.

I also believe it would be an exciting time for the City of New York and for the population as a whole to witness an election between Rudy Giuliani as the Republican Party’s Candidate and whoever is selected as the Democratic Candidate. The excitement would be so special and so great! It’s certainly worthwhile at least to speculate about that kind of election … even though in the end, Giuliani might just say, “No, I’m not running.”

You should know that there are many who believe that Giuliani will not run for Mayor if Mitt Romney wins on November 6th due to the fact that he may be offered a position in his Cabinet to serve as Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, or as the US Attorney General.

In the meantime, I will continue dreaming about the excitement that New York City will see if Rudy Giuliani decides to run for Mayor.

This is Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know.