Dionel Then has withdrawn from the 11th City Council District race in the Northwest Bronx and is endorsing candidate, Dan Padernacht, for the position, it was announced on Aug. 31. The 11th district comprises the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, and Woodlawn, and the seat is currently held by Councilman Andrew Cohen.

The news means there are now five remaining candidates in the race, as reported recently by Norwood News. Marcos Sierra officially filed last month to join Eric Dinowitz, Jessica Haller, Padernacht and Abigail Martin.

In a press release coinciding with the announcement, Then said, “With New York City and the nation as a whole radically transformed over the last seven months, the priorities and level of experience needed to keep our communities safe and prosperous have become not only self-evident but also the number one priority for myself and my campaign.”

He added, “With humble self-awareness of the limitations I currently have available to me, I am bowing out of the City Council race and will endorse Dan Padernacht’s campaign for District 11’s City Council seat set to undergo a special election in early 2021.”

He thanked everyone who supported his campaign. Contributions will be donated to the American Red Cross to help aid families gravely effected by COVID-19 and a receipt of the donation will be posted online as soon as possible. Money donated may also be returned to donors upon their request.

Padernacht announced his campaign to represent the 11^th Council District in the Northwest Bronx in June 2018 anticipating a Special Election. In the joint press release, he wrote, “I’m honored that Dionel Then has chosen to endorse me in this race. It means a lot that a fellow candidate believes that my experience is what is needed in the tumultuous times in front of our city and state.”

Padernacht continued, “Dionel and I have spoken about issues and our roots in the district including similar family backgrounds. Dionel thinks through issues, and gives a genuine and thoughtful answer about how he feels on a topic.”

Padernacht empathized with Then’s decision to withdraw from the race, saying, “It’s not easy to withdraw as a candidate which I learned in 2010 stepping back for the Democratic Party and supporting Gustavo Rivera against Pedro Espada in the 33^rd State Senate race.”

Padernacht is a local attorney and former Chair of Bronx Community Board 8, where he ran the city agency for three years. He is born and raised in the Bronx and is part of the third generation of his family to live in the district. His grandfather, Sydney Padernacht, a jazz musician and superintendent of the Sholem Alechem Houses, moved the family to the Bronx in 1949 from Brooklyn.

To date, Padernacht has raised $30,961.00 in campaign donations, the third largest amount of the remaining five officially declared candidates.

Then outlined his reasons for running in a New York County Politics article in June 2020, his top reason being public health.

According to his Linked In profile, he had worked with multiple New York City institutions and museums alongside city government. He previously wrote that his main aims were centered around improving the quality of life of neighbors and community members with policy, and encouraging higher education in his community. He wrote that he had sought to enact progressive and meaningful change.

On Aug. 31, Then wrote, “Dan Padernacht’s experience will be a great addition to the legacy of the Bronx and city politics and will help navigate the precarious economy and legal battles that loom over New York City and State in the coming months. With a little more time and experience, I plan to seek public office farther down the road.”

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article dated Sept. 1 stated that Sierra had not yet officially filed to run. This has since been corrected.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.