Troy Blackwell, a former aide on the Biden-Harris campaign and an Obama White House aide, announced his candidacy for New York City Council District 15 in the Bronx on Monday, Jan. 18. According to Blackwell’s campaign, he issued the announcement on Monday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

Observed each year on the third Monday in January as “a day on, not a day off,” MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. AmeriCorps has been charged with leading this effort for the past quarter century and is collaborating with the Biden-Harris presidential inaugural committee on the MLK National Day of Service.

A message on AmeriCorps’s website reads, “Together we encourage you to engage in volunteer service in honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. If you are hosting a service project, please register it on the presidential inaugural website. Make a commitment to serve in your community on MLK Day and throughout 2021.”

Blackwell’s campaign said the candidate has “deep experience” working on social issues and building diverse coalitions, and that his previous experience includes working on criminal justice cases for racial justice organization Color of Change, My Brother’s Keeper, as well as fighting for affordable housing.

Blackwell is a Bronx native, and a product of both public housing, and New York City public schools. According to his campaign, he grew up in a blended family with Puerto-Rican and West African roots, and credits his family and the largely immigrant community with being his inspiration to run for office. His campaign policies focus on housing justice, education, and criminal justice reform.

Blackwell’s campaign wrote that given there were over 1,200 newly reported COVID-19 cases and 9 deaths in the Bronx this past week, he is using Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Day to focus on residents who are recovering from COVID-19 at St. Barnabas Hospital. The candidate convened a small group of community members to support COVID-19 patients and their families. His campaign said this was an intentional act of service he deemed necessary given total COVID-related cases have reached over 99,000 in the borough.

“On this MLK Day of Service, I think about the legacy Dr. King set forth by acknowledging that health disparities within our society are the most callous and inhumane of all injustices,” said Blackwell. “Health equity is one of the most pressing issues of our time. As COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to our communities, we must protect and advocate for our most vulnerable and marginalized populations.”

Blackwell supports expanding the City’s paid sick day requirement to cover gig workers, expanding homeless youth services in District 15, and ensuring that New York Health and Hospitals can keep their doors open to meet the challenges of 21st-century healthcare.

Other candidates in the 15th City Council District who are aiming to fill now Congressman Ritchie Torres’ vacant seat include Kenny Agosto, district director to New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, Ischia Bravo, district manager for Community Board 7, Elisa Crespo, education liaison at the Bronx borough president’s office, Oswald Feliz, tenant lawyer and adjunct professor at Hostos Community College, Bernadette Ferrara, a community organizer, Latchmi Gopal, another community organizer, John Sanchez, Bronx Community Board 6 District Manager and  Altagracia E. Soldevilla, a community organizer. Julian Sepulveda, an official at the Department of Education, suspended his campaign in November and endorsed Crespo.

A special election date is set for March 23.

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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.