Oswald Feliz has been elected as the new New York City Council member for District 15 in the Bronx, following the non-partisan special election held on March 23, and the conclusion on Monday evening, April 12, of Round 10 of the ranked choice voting count, after which Feliz accumulated 1,766 votes out of a total of 3,976. He is now, at age 30, the youngest council member elected to the current New York City Council.

Feliz continues a legacy of young candidates getting elected to the same city council district. Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres was elected to City Council District 15 at age 25, and Joel Rivera, Torres’ predecessor, was elected to the same council district at age 22, advancing eventually to become the majority leader of the Council.

Feliz won the special election, which was among the first in the City to implement the new ranked choice voting system, by 404 votes, surpassing his nearest rival Bronx Community Board 7 District Manager, Ischia Bravo, who finished with 1,362 votes. Exhausted votes amounted to 848. Feliz, a tenant lawyer and adjunct professor at Hostos Community College, whose candidacy had been profiled previously by Norwood News, had maintained his lead since election night when the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) tallied the first choice, ranked, early ballots and first choice, ranked, election day ballots from over 96 percent of the voting scanners.

The election night tally did not include military ballots or absentee ballots. Feliz won 28.42 percent of the votes on election night, while Bravo won 21.54 percent. She was followed by John Sanchez, Bronx Community Board 6 District Manager, who garnered 20.21 percent of the election night votes. Both Bravo and Sanchez trailed Feliz since that date.

Speaking to the Norwood News on Monday night at the Bronx BOE borough office at 1780 Grand Concourse, where the various counts had been taking place and were being independently observed since Sunday, April 11, Feliz said, “We thank every single voter that participated in this election. Thank you to everybody who supported me. I also thank everybody who knocked on every single door, who called every single voter, talking about why I am the best candidate in this race.”

He added, “We’re looking very forward to getting to work, to making sure that we bring good public schools in the Bronx, to make sure that we truly prepare students for the future.. also more access to affordable housing and improving public safety in the Bronx. We are ready to hit the ground running on Day 1 as soon as the results are certified. Thank you so much.”

As reported previously by Norwood News, following Round 2 of the ranked choice ballot count by the BOE on Sunday, April 11, which included election day ballots, early voting ballots, absentee ballots and military ballots, Arial Rivera Diaz, a former finance clerk with the City’s Board of Elections and former official at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, was eliminated and his votes were redistributed to other candidates accordingly. José Padilla, former Independence candidate for both the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, was eliminated after Round 3, and his votes were then redistributed.

The count continued with Round 4 on Monday morning, April 12, and after various rounds, Elisa Crespo, education liaison for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who recently announced that she will not be running in the District 15, June Democratic primary race, was eliminated, along with Latchmi Devi Gopal, a community organizer and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Altagracia Soldevilla, another community organizer, Kenny Agosto, district director to New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, and Bernadette Ferrara, president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance. Sanchez was later eliminated also when he had a total of 1,061 votes.

Bravo also spoke to the Norwood News at the count center on Monday night, after Round 10 was concluded, saying, “I would like to thank everyone that supported our campaign. I would like to congratulate and express my camaraderie to all my colleagues that ran, I think, a very good race and I look forward to working with everyone and I will be running again in the June Democratic primary.”

She added, “I think my district needs me, and that was exemplified here today, and I hope that there is a better turn-out as well in the electorate.”

A total of 93,211 residents were registered to vote in District 15 as of Feb. 21, 2021, according to the BOE, with 12,366 voters deemed inactive, and 80,845 deemed active. The last date to mail a registration form to vote in the special election was Feb. 26, while the last date to register to vote in person was March 13.

Special elections are known to have low voter turnout and the District 15 City Council special election was no exception with a final total of 3,976 ballots. When Torres last won the District 15 City Council seat in 2017, in a regularly scheduled election, 10,507 residents showed up to the polls.

Torres resigned his seat last year after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2020, where he now represents New York’s 15th congressional district, having replaced former congressman, José Serrano.

Torres tweeted his congratulations to Feliz on Monday night saying, “Congratulations to my successor @OswaldFeliz on his election as the new City Council member for District 15. Serving in the @CityCouncil is one of the greatest privileges of public service. Cherish every moment of it.”

City Council District 15 covers the Bronx neighborhoods of Fordham, Mount Hope, Bathgate, Belmont, East Tremont, West Farms, Van Nest, Allerton, Olinville and parts of Bedford Park, and overlaps with Congressional District 15 which includes Bathgate, Belmont, Claremont, Clason Point, East Tremont, Fordham, Harding Park, Highbridge, Hunts Point, Little Italy, Longwood, Melrose, Morrisania, Morris Heights, Mott Haven, Soundview, Tremont, Unionport, and West Farms.

Feliz will serve as councilman until Dec. 31, 2021. Future representation in District 15, beyond that point, will be determined via the upcoming June 2021 primary and November 2021 general election.

The son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Feliz was born in New York City and raised in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, where he attended local public schools. As a tenant attorney, he successfully defended vulnerable Bronx residents who were at risk of eviction and sued landlords who were in the practice of tenant harassment. Feliz helped form a tenant association of over 50 tenants and successfully negotiated a settlement from a powerful landlord in the Southern Boulevard section of the Bronx to provide tenants with nearly $100,000 in damages due to the deplorable conditions in the building.

Congratulations to my successor, @OswaldFeliz, on his election as the new Council Member for District 15. Serving in the @NYCCouncil is one of the greatest privileges of public service. Cherish every moment of it.

— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) April 13, 2021

Prior to his work as an attorney, Feliz worked on behalf of Bronx families as a legislative staffer for State Senator Gustavo Rivera. He then joined the historic 2016 campaign of Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the 13th Congressional District. Feliz also co-founded the Northwest Bronx Democrats for Change, where he has worked to increase political participation by organizing community town halls and holding voter registration drives in the Bronx.

Feliz released a written statement later on Monday night thanking his volunteers and supporters again, including Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who represents Congressional District 13, covering parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, who represents A.D. 86 in the Bronx, Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa, who represents A.D. 72, covering parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who represents City Council District 10, covering Manhattan and a small part of the Bronx.

Feliz said, “I also want to thank my opponents for a well-run race, and I hope we can work together moving forward to best serve all of the diverse needs of our community. The Bronx has always been my home, and I am humbled by the faith and support District 15 has placed in me.”

He added, “Now, we have urgent work ahead of us to make sure our community can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as possible. Starting on Day One, I’m going to be focused on vaccinating vulnerable New Yorkers throughout the Bronx, helping small business owners get back on their feet, and ensuring working families are at the heart of our City’s economic recovery. Additionally, I will work tirelessly to increase access to affordable housing, improve educational outcomes, and improve public safety. I’m ready to tackle all of the pressing issues our community faces, and vow to be a powerful voice for the Bronx in the City Council.”

The BOE have, in the meantime, published the final official ranked choice vote breakdown as below:

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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.