‘Rubencito’ gets a jump on special election for Bronx Borough President

By N. Clark Judd

Monday was a rainy day to stand on the steps of Borough Hall, but Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. was all smiles.

Over the weekend, he talked City Councilman Larry Seabrook out of running against him for borough president. Now he stands all but unchallenged in the race. Why wouldn’t he be happy?

“Now is the time, ladies and gentlemen, for us to strike while the stars are aligned,” Mr. Diaz told a throng of cameras atop the Borough Hall steps. He was announcing his candidacy for an April 21 special election to replace Adolfo Carrión Jr., who left to become the new director of the White House Office of Urban Policy. A dense knot of supporters filled the frame behind him.

Mr. Diaz spoke about his desire to steer the anticipated influx of stimulus money toward job creation, the preservation of the health care sector — the prime moneymaker for the Bronx — improving education and rehabilitating the environment.

After at least a year of preparation but a scant few days of campaigning, the man insiders call Rubencito, — a reference to the fact that his father is longtime state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. — is practically the last man standing in what was expected to be a brutal six-week battle for Borough Hall.

Maybe his potential rivals didn’t deem the contest worthwhile. The reward for winning the special election is a few months as the Bronx’s nominal chief executive, a post diluted over decades into a combination of city planner, public advocate and economic development director. The winner will only be able to keep the job for the rest of Mr. Carrión’s term, which ends with 2009. If Mr. Diaz wins the job and wants to keep it, he’ll have to do the whole routine again for the November general election.

Israel Ruiz Jr., the former councilman and state senator, Joel Rivera, the City Council majority leader, and Larry Seabrook, also a councilman, have all scrapped plans to run.