PACS Pay Big to Play in the Bronx, could displace thousands!

Did you know that in 2025, there are two Political Action Committees trying to influence the upcoming Bronx primary election? “Affordable New York” and “Ending Homelessness and Building a Better NYC,” or EHBB for short, are backing candidates Eric Dinowitz, Elsie Encarnacion, Amanda Farias, Oswald Feliz, Kevin C. Riley, Rafael Salamanca, Althea Stevens, Jumaane Williams, and Wilfredo Lopez, respectively. 

So what’s up?  After decades of neglect, what is motivating these two external entities, both backed by Wall Street, to interfere with local Bronx elections? 

Corruption. 

The practice of supporting candidates who side with big businesses in exchange for huge contributions has become all too commonplace in the Bronx, with little to no effort made even to keep it hidden from public view! This current scenario highlights the long-standing corruption that has been plaguing the appropriately named “Democratic Machine” for years.  A fairly recent article published by the NY Focus highlights some of the Bronx Democratic Party’s suspicious behavior i.e, large financial discrepancies in the party’s fund reporting. We learned that a whopping $400,000 was missing after $700,000 was reported to have been donated, and the report was only changed after news broke on October 15, 2024.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.

In November, Kevin C. Riley( Dist 12), Rafael Salamanca Jr. (candidate for Bronx BP and currently representing Dist 17), Oswald Feliz (Dist. 15), Althea Stevens (16)  and Diana Ayala( Dist. 8)  co-sponsored a bill that would allow owners of one- and two-family homes to use their properties as short-term rentals, just ONE year after a law took effect that banned owners from renting out a whole house or apartment to guests for less than 30 days.

According to The City, the Airbnb-backed “super PAC is throwing its weight behind Ayala’s chief of staff, Elsie Encarnacion, and has already spent big on other Bronx Council races. Affordable New York sunk $186,120 into Councilmember Kevin Riley’s reelection bid against Andy King, who formerly represented that district; $74,738 towards Councilmember Oswald’s Feliz reelection; $99,862in support of reelecting Councilmember Althea Stevens; $65,000 to reelect Councilmember Eric Dinowitz and $27,692 on behalf of Council Majority Leader Amanda Farías.It has also contributed $100,635 towards Rafael Salamanca’s bid to unseat Borough President Vanessa Gibson…Of the more than $1.1 million that Affordable New York has spent on New York City’s elections this year, 58% has been spent in The Bronx.”  

Another article published by The City highlights the most recent spending endeavors of the Jane Street-backed Super PAC, EHBBNYC, run by Tomas Ramos, a Pennsylvania-raised individual. “An outside group has spent more than $200K backing Council candidate Wil López, not counting dark money that paid for the unprecedented blizzard of court cases seeking to clear the field of other candidates.” 

Transparency is the key to stopping corruption and Bronx Voters must be informed on this coming Primary election day. So we have compiled a comprehensive list of every Bronx Democratic Candidate who has currently received money from corporate special interest groups.  Please take a look below and share this information with your neighbors. 

Do we want candidates who serve the needs of Wall Street and are looking to displace low-income residents, or do we want candidates who serve the needs of the people?   You decide.