Adolfo Carrión, Jr.
Bronx Borough President
Adolfo Carrión, Jr., the 12th chief executive of The Bronx since municipal incorporation in 1898, was born in lower Manhattan and moved with his family to the Baychester section of the Northeast Bronx when he was in fourth grade.
The son of a minister, Carrión has devoted his career since graduating from Kings College (then in Westchester) to public service, as an associate pastor at a Bronx church, as a public school teacher in the West Bronx and, after earning a Master's in Urban Planning from the City University's Hunter College (he is the only elected official in New York City with an Urban Planning degree), in other public sector capacities. Carrión first worked for the Bronx office of the City Department of City Planning, before becoming district manager for Bronx Community Board 5, where he oversaw the delivery of services to 150,000 residents. He later joined Promesa, a community development organization, as Vice President of Human Services and Community Outreach.
In 1997, Carrión was elected to the City Council from the14th Council District, which includes the West Bronx neighborhoods of University Heights, Morris Heights, Kingsbridge and Fordham. As a member of the City Council, Carrión sat on the Economic Development, Education, Higher Education, Environmental Protection, Governmental Operations and Land Use committees. He also served as chairman of the Special Subcommittee on the 2000 Census.
Carrión was elected Bronx Borough President in November 2001. He has committed his administration to improving the Bronx' economy, educational system and environment.
- In targeting the economy, he has stressed the creation of good jobs, especially through his Buy Bronx program for developers, while endorsing projects that fit harmoniously with the existing community.
- Acknowledging the poor outcomes of many Bronx students, Carrión has crusaded for the rights of parents to send their children to good schools with adequate supplies, modern buildings and certified teachers, and to have a voice in their children's schools despite the reorganization that has marginalized local input. He has also argued passionately against the disastrous state and city school budget cuts undermining the very programs that have finally begun to turn the schools around.
- Carrión defines environment as the place where we live. To address the Bronx' environmental needs, he has supported new housing development, safer and cleaner streets (closing the first "hot sheet" motel in a decade), improved transportation infrastructure (including highways, ferries and retention of express bus service) and redevelopment of the Bronx waterfront to offer more recreational, residential, commercial and industrial uses. He has challenged Bronxites to take responsibility for the many health problems they face from unhealthy personal choices, while speaking out forcefully for better health care facilities and improved access to health insurance. To enrich the cultural environment, he has advocated for the Bronx Cultural Corridor, successfully led the battle to get the Bronx' hometown team, the New York Yankees, back on television and promoted the development of new ice skating rinks in borough parks.
Borough President Carrión has championed a pragmatic style of leadership, earning growing recognition from a broad spectrum of the borough's representatives, within his own party's state and national organizations, as well as from the city's and state's Republican leadership, for highly effective consensus and coalition building in pursuit of his constituents' interests. Believing that leadership and accountability go hand in hand, Carrión has advised Bronx residents to look for outcomes, not just promises, in assessing their elected officials, starting with himself, to safeguard their children and families and the future of the borough's 1.3 million people.
Carrión is married to Linda Baldwin, an attorney. He has three daughters - Raquel (from a previous marriage), Sara, and Olivia - and a son - Adolfo James, known as A.J. He lives with his family in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx.
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