José Enrique Serrano is an American politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1990 until his retirement in 2021. Serrano, a Democrat from New York, represented a district that is one of the smallest in the country geographically, consisting of a few square miles of the heavily populated South Bronx in New York City. His district was also one of the most densely populated and one of the few majority Hispanic districts in the country. The district was numbered the 18th from 1990 to 1993 and the 16th from 1993 to 2013, and the 15th district from 2013 to 2021. He was the longest-serving Hispanic-American in the House. He did not run for re-election in 2020 due to a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and Ritchie Torres was elected to succeed him.
Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano is an American politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York, Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. Her district, in New York City, was numbered the 12th district from 1993 to 2013 and has been numbered the 7th district since 2013. Velázquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in the United States Congress.
Puerto Ricans have both immigrated and migrated to New York City. The first group of Puerto Ricans immigrated to New York City in the mid-19th century when Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony and its people Spanish subjects. The following wave of Puerto Ricans to move to New York City did so after the Spanish–American War in 1898. Puerto Ricans were no longer Spanish subjects and citizens of Spain, they were now Puerto Rican citizens of an American possession and needed passports to travel to the Contiguous United States.
Jeffrey Dinowitz is an American politician who represents District 81 in the New York State Assembly, which comprises Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Norwood, Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, and Woodlawn Heights. Dinowitz has served in the New York State Assembly since 1994.
Barbara M. Clark represented New York State Assembly District 33, which comprises Bellerose, Cambria Heights, Hollis and St. Albans, among other neighborhoods located in Queens County, New York.
Nicholasa Mohr is one of the best known Nuyorican writers, born in the United States to Puerto Rican parents. In 1973, she became the first Nuyorican woman in the 20th century to have her literary works published by the major commercial publishing houses, and has had the longest creative writing career of any Nuyorican female writer for these publishing houses. She centers her works on the female experience as a child and adult in Puerto Rican communities in New York City, with much of writing containing semi-autobiographical content. In addition to her prominent novels and short stories, she has written screenplays, plays, and television scripts.
Luz María "Luzma" Umpierre-Herrera is a Puerto Rican advocate for human rights, a New-Humanist educator, poet, and scholar. Her works pans a range of critical social issues, including activism and social equality, the immigrant experience, bilingualism in the United States, and LGBT matters. Luzma has made significant contributions to literature, authoring six poetry collections and two books on literary criticism, in addition to having many essays featured in academic journals.
Marcos A. Crespo is a former Democratic member of the New York State Assembly representing the 85th Assembly District, which includes the Soundview, Clason Point, Longwood, and Hunts Point sections of the South Bronx.
Maria del Carmen Arroyo is the former Council member for the 17th district of the New York City Council. She is a Democrat.
Robert Garcia was a United States representative who represented New York's 21st district. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1965 and the New York State Senate in 1967, and then served in Congress from 1978 to 1990.
Maria Colón Sánchez a.k.a. "La Madrina", was an activist and politician who, in 1988, became the first Hispanic woman elected to the Connecticut General Assembly. She was also the founder of the Puerto Rican Parade Committee in 1964 and co-founded La Casa de Puerto Rico, the Society of Legal Services, the Spanish-American Merchants Association, the Puerto Rican Businessmen Association, and the Community Renewal Team.
Michaelle C. Solages is an American politician serving as a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 22nd district which includes portions of the town of Hempstead in Nassau County on Long Island. A Democrat, Solages was first elected in 2012.
The recorded history of Puerto Rican women can trace its roots back to the era of the Taíno, the indigenous people of the Caribbean, who inhabited the island that they called Boriken before the arrival of Spaniards. During the Spanish colonization the cultures and customs of the Taíno, Spanish, African and women from non-Hispanic European countries blended into what became the culture and customs of Puerto Rico.
Carmen Pola is a long-time Puerto Rican politician and community activist in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the first Latina to run for statewide office and the first Director of the Office of Constituent Services, a citywide office formed under Mayor Raymond Flynn.
Maritza Davila is an American politician from the state of New York. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents the 53rd district in the New York State Assembly.
David Rosado is an American politician from New York.
Taylor Darling is an American elected official from the state of New York. She is a Democrat, currently representing the 18th District in the New York State Assembly since 2019. Taylor is second generation Nigerian, Trinidadian and English and was reared in the Jewish and Episcopalian faiths.
Amanda Septimo is an American politician from the state of New York. A Democrat, Septimo is the Assemblymember for the 84th district of the New York State Assembly, based in the South Bronx; her term began in January 2021.
New York's 84th State Assembly district is one of the 150 districts in the New York State Assembly. It has been represented by Amanda Septimo since 2021. She succeeded Carmen Arroyo, following her removal from the ballot due to petitioning fraud.
