Melissa Mark-Viverito has been elected Speaker of the City Council. The vote of the 51-member Council on January 8 was unanimous. She was first elected to the New York City Council in 2005 following her work at 1199SEIU in support of the union’s homecare organizing campaigns.

Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez captured the significance of her election as Speaker. “It sent a clear signal, especially to our business and real estate barons — the 1% who had everything their way during the Bloomberg era — that all branches of city government are now lined up behind Mayor de Blasio’s promise to end the tale of two cities.

“With de Blasio, Mark-Viverito, Public Advocate Letitia James and Controller Scott Stringer, citywide government is now in the hands of the most ethnically diverse and liberal Democratic coalition in memory.”

Many Latino elected officials and community leaders—including Rep. Nydia Velazquez, NYS Assemblymember Jose Rivera and former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer—packed the City Council chambers during the vote.

The Puerto Rico-born Mark-Viverito, who represents East Harlem and the South Bronx on the City Council, said, “I hope that as young Latinas and Latinos are witnessing this moment, they are able to dream that much bigger and are inspired to work that much harder, because we have broken through one more barrier,” she said.

Mark-Viverito is a familiar figure among New York’s labor and progressive movements. A longtime supporter of 1199 and the Working Families Party, she was an early protester of the US Navy base in Vieques, PR, a frequent speaker at Occupy Wall Street rallies, and a firm advocate on behalf of low-wage workers. During the previous administration, she chaired the City Council’s Progressive Caucus.

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Mayoral Ally Elected Speaker, Furthering City’s Liberal Shift, New York Times, Jsnusry 8, 2014