Bronx BP the real winner in primary?

Results of the heated presidential primary were just starting to come in as The Press went to print on Tuesday night. But from a Bronx point of view, it may be possible to declare one winner: Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.

Former President Bill Clinton dropped his name several times during two visits to Riverdale last week. Here was Mr. Clinton at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale on April 11:

“I want to thank your borough president, Ruben Diaz, who has taken Hillary on the subway and done so much to keep lifting the Bronx. He thanked me the other day because he heard I was halfway across the country talking about how New York’s economy was growing fast and the growth was being led by the Bronx.”

The subway reference was to a ride on the 4 Train in which Mr. Diaz, and a gaggle of critical reporters, accompanied Ms. Clinton. Pictures of the trip, some with stories mocking Ms. Clinton’s difficulty with a turnstile, put Mr. Diaz’s face in national outlets like The Washington Post for the first time.

His name came up again during a speech Mr. Clinton made at the College of Mount Saint Vincent on April 15:

“At the first event we had in the Bronx, President Diaz said, You know, there were three presidents who came here when I was a kid. President Carter… said how bad he felt. He wanted to help us. President Reagan came here in the 80s and said, see this shows you what a mess the government makes of things. And he said, then I showed up and said, Looks like the future to me. Let’s get it on.”

It might be that Mr. Clinton just really likes Mr. Diaz’s personality. It’s also possible he was talking up the borough president since he thinks he would be a better mayor than the incumbent.

Since the start of his second term as borough president, Mr. Diaz has drawn speculation that he will run for mayor in 2017. While he has indicated he is only exploring the option, giving numerous interviews on the topic has not exactly quelled the rumors.

It is not too far-fetched to imagine the former president supporting a Diaz challenge to Mayor Bill de Blasio next year. Mr. Clinton made a statement by picking Harlem as the headquarters for his post-presidential headquarters, and cheerleading the nearby Bronx perpetuates that theme. It might be natural for Mr. Clinton to support the borough president here.

Then, of course, there is the public decline in the friendship between the Clintons and Mr. de Blasio, who stalled on endorsing Ms. Clinton in a disastrous attempt to assert himself as a national voice on progressive issues. In contrast, Bronx officials including Mr. Diaz were quick to endorse Ms. Clinton once she announced her candidacy.

Whether or not Ms. Clinton wins in the Democratic primary here, Mr. Clinton might end up looking for someone to support in next year’s mayoral race. The field of possible contenders is wide, and it would be an uphill battle for the Bronx borough president to assert himself on a citywide stage. But a series of shout-outs from Mr. Clinton hasn’t hurt.

Klein fights ‘mini Rikers’

While Mr. Klein was conspicuously absent from Mr. Clinton’s events in Riverdale last week — northwest Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Councilman Andrew Cohen were at both — he has still been making headlines. (A Klein spokeswoman did not answer an email asking why Mr. Klein missed the Hebrew Home event.)

Last week, Mr. Klein gave a press conference alleging that the city is secretly planning to build a 2,000-bed adult jail in Hunts Point amid plans to shut down Rikers Island.

“The mayor has to come clean. Is there going to be a prison or not? And I think the community of Hunts Point is saying loud and clear, we don’t want a prison in our community,” Mr. Klein told PIX11.

In public statements, the mayor has said it would be infeasible to shut down Rikers.

Engel tackles swatting

Mr. Engel is calling for passage of a bill he introduced to stiffen penalties against people who make phone calls that prompt law enforcement officers to respond to fake emergencies — a practice known as swatting. The name comes from the fact that SWAT teams often respond to such calls. 

In a statement, the congressman said he introduced the bill last year “following a string of swattings in my district.

“Incidents have also occurred in Tennessee, Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina — the list goes on,” he continued. “My goal is to dissuade potential swatters from wasting taxpayer money and law enforcement resources and — most importantly — from putting their neighbors and emergency response teams in harm’s way.”

Among the penalties against swatters, Mr. Engel wants them to reimburse law enforcement agencies every time thousands of dollars are squandered in the course of an incident.