New Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., recently sat down at El Nuevo Bohio, a Puerto Rican restaurant on East Tremont Avenue, to talk about the Diaz family think tank, the allure of octopus salad and whether or not he takes after Reese Witherspoon.
City Hall: What does “El Bohio” mean?
Ruben Diaz: It’s a kiosk. So in places like Carolina, in Bayamón, they have different little bohios.
CH: Like little takeout food places.
RD: Yeah, you go to the beach. When you leave the beach, you drive up to the front [of the bohio]. In Puerto Rico, the way we have it, it’s all open air. And you drive up in front of the bohios and order and you can eat there or take it home with you.
CH: Maybe have a beer or something like that.
RD: A couple of beers—never one.
CH: Thanks for making time for lunch, I really appreciate it.
RD: Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to cook for you.
CH: Was that an option?
RD: I could only cook breakfast. All kinds of breakfast.
CH: Do you cook other stuff too?
RD: No. You lost me there. I can get my microwave on. I know how to reheat leftovers.
CH: So what’s good?
RD: I’m gonna have the white rice with red beans and it’s called “bacalao salad,” or “codfish salad.” The soups are excellent here. Do you like octopus salad? The last time I had lunch with somebody here, it was funny because I was supposed to go to a candidate screening afterward. And I’m allergic to seafood, well shellfish, but octopus and calamari. But I couldn’t help myself, so I started digging in. By the time I went to—it was the DC37 screening—by the time I went over there, I looked like somebody punched me.
CH: What did you tell them?
RD: I explained myself. I had just popped a Benadryl so after a while it started coming down—cause I break into hives and stuff. But it’s to die for.
CH: I’m going to try the octopus salad if it’s so good that you got an allergic reaction to actually eat it.
RD: I may just have to get my Benadryl out.
CH: I’m all about sharing, but I will not take responsibility if you go into anaphylactic shock.
RD: I have some Benadryl in the car.
CH: That would be a terrible way to end the interview.
CH: In terms of Pedro Espada’s future in Bronx politics, how do you think he’s going to fare? Do you think that if a candidate comes out and challenges him, will the powers-that-be back that challenger?
RD: Well, I mean, he’s the majority leader now. Anyone who runs against him has a disadvantage.
CH: But he’s also come under fire for going back and forth between parties and causing disruption, and there’s controversy over whether he lives in the district or not.
RD: I think it’ll be very difficult to beat him. I don’t know if the organization, the Democratic organization—and this is probably a better question for the Democratic county chairman—I don’t know if it would be the right thing to do to run against him. Look, it’s not a bad thing that when you look at Albany and the State Senate, at least, and you look at that two out of the top four leaders in the State Senate are from the Bronx. It came because of some chaos, but I mean, nonetheless, there’s a new paradigm and a new leadership. You have Jeff Klein and Pedro Espada, both from the borough of the Bronx.
CH: You and your father, State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., are notoriously divergent in your political views. So how did you become the “liberal son”?
RD: I think it’s generational. And obviously, as we get older—and this just doesn’t apply to my family—I think, as a whole, as you get older—whether you’re black, Latino, white, female, male, from New York, wherever in the United States—you tend to become a little more conservative in your point of view.
CH: So you think you may get conservative as you get older, too?
RD: Probably. I certainly am now more so, now that I have two teenaged sons, than when I was a teenager, right?
CH: Where does your mother fall on the political spectrum? Do you take after her at all?
RD: My mother—a lot of folks don’t realize this because the Reverend is so vocal and public and he’s an elected official—my mother is very much part of the Diaz think tank, the political think tank. And we do have that. We make political decisions at times and we have certain political conversations around the dinner table. Our parents are divorced. But we do so at Hilda Diaz’s, our mother, and that’s where we make the decisions in our house. For the most part, you have a discussion that goes like this. My brother, who is—I don’t know if you want to call him a libertarian, an independent—he’s the one who thinks that everyone in government needs to go. Then you have my father with his conservative views. And you have my sister, who is Sergeant Diaz. I don’t know if I want to quote her too much, but she’s a sergeant in the NYPD. Her and my father kind of—they are more aligned in their political points of view. And then there’s my mother, always takes her baby’s side.
CH: Considering you were the youngest Assembly member, elected at 23 at the time, I was wondering if in high school you were like Reese Witherspoon in Election.
RD: Oh, no. No, I was a straight-A student in elementary school and middle school, and I totally went off course during high school. I rebelled against Reverend Diaz and his heavy-handedness in terms of discipline. My brother and I—I’m a victim of teenage pregnancy. My wife and I were victims of teenage pregnancy. I don’t try to sugarcoat it. In fact, I used it to talk to young folks throughout the borough. I told them that I ran off course during high school and did things that I’m not proud of. But luckily everything worked out perfectly well.
CH: I assume you’re a Yankee fan.
RD: Did you see what I did, since I’ve become borough president? The Yankees were on a 10-game losing streak before I got elected. I spoke to Joe Girardi, you know, and they turned it around.
CH: What about that “God Bless America” recording? Do you think maybe they should get a new one? Because it sounds like it’s being played on a phonograph.
RD: I don’t know. And, you know, I guess the boss wanted his way. What the boss wants, the boss gets. I’m big on having celebrities. And the Yankee fans get celebrities all the time.
CH: Who would be your first choice to sing?
RD: The American Idol winner. The one who did the movie.
CH: Jennifer Hudson?
RD: Jennifer Hudson. I love the way she sings.
CH: You got a salad for lunch, a pretty healthy choice.
RD: I could do better. I’ve been eating more fruits as of late. But, you know, nonetheless, at least for the young people in the borough of the Bronx: Do as the borough president says, not as the borough president does, when it comes to his diet. But yeah, we do have a diabetes problem. And we have—we have to be mindful, too, of different cultures and eating habits from different cultures. We’re so diverse.
CH: You mentioned that you try to eat well, but you could do a better job. Is there something that’s like a guilty pleasure?
RD: Candy. All kind of candy. Snicker bars, Nerds, M&Ms, potato chips, Doritos. Oh, my God, Doritos. Oh lord. Doritos barbecue chips. Now and Laters. Starburst. Bubble gum.
CH: Are you home every night for dinner? It’s probably difficult to do that.
RD: Well, it depends. My wife is a professional in her own right. She is a supervisor for the Port Authority for the security and runway at LaGuardia Airport.
CH: Do you make a point to have a family meal every once in a while?
RD: Not only do we have family meals, but we have something called movie nights. The last movie we watched…we did Iron Man and Sleeping Beauty. All right, I gotta explain that. So they have a new TV, right? So you gotta do the whole Blu-Ray stuff. And my wife really loves…Disney, the animated movies. So, the other day, I saw Iron Man at the store, but I really wanted to see it on Blu-Ray. And it was like action-packed, you know? The boys and I like it. But what about, what do we bring for Mommy?
CH: Sleeping Beauty.
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ABOVE: Photo by Andrew Schwartz
City Hall: What does “El Bohio” mean?
Ruben Diaz: It’s a kiosk. So in places like Carolina, in Bayamón, they have different little bohios.
CH: Like little takeout food places.
RD: Yeah, you go to the beach. When you leave the beach, you drive up to the front [of the bohio]. In Puerto Rico, the way we have it, it’s all open air. And you drive up in front of the bohios and order and you can eat there or take it home with you.
CH: Maybe have a beer or something like that.
RD: A couple of beers—never one.
CH: Thanks for making time for lunch, I really appreciate it.
RD: Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to cook for you.
CH: Was that an option?
RD: I could only cook breakfast. All kinds of breakfast.
CH: Do you cook other stuff too?
RD: No. You lost me there. I can get my microwave on. I know how to reheat leftovers.
CH: So what’s good?
RD: I’m gonna have the white rice with red beans and it’s called “bacalao salad,” or “codfish salad.” The soups are excellent here. Do you like octopus salad? The last time I had lunch with somebody here, it was funny because I was supposed to go to a candidate screening afterward. And I’m allergic to seafood, well shellfish, but octopus and calamari. But I couldn’t help myself, so I started digging in. By the time I went to—it was the DC37 screening—by the time I went over there, I looked like somebody punched me.
CH: What did you tell them?
RD: I explained myself. I had just popped a Benadryl so after a while it started coming down—cause I break into hives and stuff. But it’s to die for.
CH: I’m going to try the octopus salad if it’s so good that you got an allergic reaction to actually eat it.
RD: I may just have to get my Benadryl out.
CH: I’m all about sharing, but I will not take responsibility if you go into anaphylactic shock.
RD: I have some Benadryl in the car.
CH: That would be a terrible way to end the interview.
CH: In terms of Pedro Espada’s future in Bronx politics, how do you think he’s going to fare? Do you think that if a candidate comes out and challenges him, will the powers-that-be back that challenger?
RD: Well, I mean, he’s the majority leader now. Anyone who runs against him has a disadvantage.
CH: But he’s also come under fire for going back and forth between parties and causing disruption, and there’s controversy over whether he lives in the district or not.
RD: I think it’ll be very difficult to beat him. I don’t know if the organization, the Democratic organization—and this is probably a better question for the Democratic county chairman—I don’t know if it would be the right thing to do to run against him. Look, it’s not a bad thing that when you look at Albany and the State Senate, at least, and you look at that two out of the top four leaders in the State Senate are from the Bronx. It came because of some chaos, but I mean, nonetheless, there’s a new paradigm and a new leadership. You have Jeff Klein and Pedro Espada, both from the borough of the Bronx.
CH: You and your father, State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., are notoriously divergent in your political views. So how did you become the “liberal son”? RD: I think it’s generational. And obviously, as we get older—and this just doesn’t apply to my family—I think, as a whole, as you get older—whether you’re black, Latino, white, female, male, from New York, wherever in the United States—you tend to become a little more conservative in your point of view.
CH: So you think you may get conservative as you get older, too?
RD: Probably. I certainly am now more so, now that I have two teenaged sons, than when I was a teenager, right?
CH: Where does your mother fall on the political spectrum? Do you take after her at all?
RD: My mother—a lot of folks don’t realize this because the Reverend is so vocal and public and he’s an elected official—my mother is very much part of the Diaz think tank, the political think tank. And we do have that. We make political decisions at times and we have certain political conversations around the dinner table. Our parents are divorced. But we do so at Hilda Diaz’s, our mother, and that’s where we make the decisions in our house. For the most part, you have a discussion that goes like this. My brother, who is—I don’t know if you want to call him a libertarian, an independent—he’s the one who thinks that everyone in government needs to go. Then you have my father with his conservative views. And you have my sister, who is Sergeant Diaz. I don’t know if I want to quote her too much, but she’s a sergeant in the NYPD. Her and my father kind of—they are more aligned in their political points of view. And then there’s my mother, always takes her baby’s side.
CH: Considering you were the youngest Assembly member, elected at 23 at the time, I was wondering if in high school you were like Reese Witherspoon in Election.
RD: Oh, no. No, I was a straight-A student in elementary school and middle school, and I totally went off course during high school. I rebelled against Reverend Diaz and his heavy-handedness in terms of discipline. My brother and I—I’m a victim of teenage pregnancy. My wife and I were victims of teenage pregnancy. I don’t try to sugarcoat it. In fact, I used it to talk to young folks throughout the borough. I told them that I ran off course during high school and did things that I’m not proud of. But luckily everything worked out perfectly well.
CH: I assume you’re a Yankee fan.
RD: Did you see what I did, since I’ve become borough president? The Yankees were on a 10-game losing streak before I got elected. I spoke to Joe Girardi, you know, and they turned it around.
CH: What about that “God Bless America” recording? Do you think maybe they should get a new one? Because it sounds like it’s being played on a phonograph.
RD: I don’t know. And, you know, I guess the boss wanted his way. What the boss wants, the boss gets. I’m big on having celebrities. And the Yankee fans get celebrities all the time.
CH: Who would be your first choice to sing?
RD: The American Idol winner. The one who did the movie.
CH: Jennifer Hudson?
RD: Jennifer Hudson. I love the way she sings.
CH: You got a salad for lunch, a pretty healthy choice.
RD: I could do better. I’ve been eating more fruits as of late. But, you know, nonetheless, at least for the young people in the borough of the Bronx: Do as the borough president says, not as the borough president does, when it comes to his diet. But yeah, we do have a diabetes problem. And we have—we have to be mindful, too, of different cultures and eating habits from different cultures. We’re so diverse.
CH: You mentioned that you try to eat well, but you could do a better job. Is there something that’s like a guilty pleasure?
RD: Candy. All kind of candy. Snicker bars, Nerds, M&Ms, potato chips, Doritos. Oh, my God, Doritos. Oh lord. Doritos barbecue chips. Now and Laters. Starburst. Bubble gum.
CH: Are you home every night for dinner? It’s probably difficult to do that.
RD: Well, it depends. My wife is a professional in her own right. She is a supervisor for the Port Authority for the security and runway at LaGuardia Airport.
CH: Do you make a point to have a family meal every once in a while?
RD: Not only do we have family meals, but we have something called movie nights. The last movie we watched…we did Iron Man and Sleeping Beauty. All right, I gotta explain that. So they have a new TV, right? So you gotta do the whole Blu-Ray stuff. And my wife really loves…Disney, the animated movies. So, the other day, I saw Iron Man at the store, but I really wanted to see it on Blu-Ray. And it was like action-packed, you know? The boys and I like it. But what about, what do we bring for Mommy?
CH: Sleeping Beauty.
--
ABOVE: Photo by Andrew Schwartz
