Bronx Borough President: We Are Not A Punchline

Published September 10, 2014 at 12:50 PM EDT

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., pictured with the Kingsbridge Knights Little League team. Diaz says the Bronx has come a long way since the 1970s and 80s, when it was the face of urban decay. Bronx Borough Presidents Office)

Recently, Rep. Ted Cruz likened the Bronx’s border with Manhattan to the U.S.-Mexico border, a comparison that was met with laughter from the audience at an event for Americans for Prosperity.

Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz, Jr. is not having it.

“It really gets me upset because what he’s doing is he’s perpetuating these negative stereotypes about the Bronx,” Diaz told Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson. “It’s almost like he’s villifying or trying to erase the work that we’ve done here.”

The Bronx was devastated in the 1970s and 1980s, when the borough was synonymous with urban decay.

But today, the Bronx has a lower crime rates than cities like Houston and Dallas, and it is the top destination for people fleeing Manhattan’s high real estate prices. What changed?

Diaz cites billions of dollars in private investment and new housing in the Bronx, and a three percent decline in the jobless rate. But mostly, Diaz credits the people of the Bronx.

“We have rebuilt this borough,” Diaz said.

Guest

Ruben Diaz Jr., Bronx Borough President. He tweets @rubendiazjr.