Candidate Rick Del Rio

WWW.RICHARDDELRIO.COM
The People’s Voice
INSIDE:
VOLUME I ISSUE I ★ SUMMER 2013
Endorsements
3
A Life of Service
4
The Issues
6
CITY COUNCIL ★ DISTRICT 2
Primary
Election
Sept. 10,
2013
Candidate
Rick Del Rio
“From the Community,
For the Community”

2 RICK DEL RIO: FROM THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY
BY RICK DEL RIO
Earlier this year, I formally announced
my campaign to represent New York
City Council District 2 after thirty-plus
years of service to the community as an
entrepreneur, activist, and pastor.
I invite you to join our growing army of supporters.
We are political outsiders but community
insiders, willing to give all for sustainable
change from the inside out. Your support will
propel success.
I envision a Council District 2 that embraces
our extraordinary economic, racial, and cultural
diversity, from the Lower East Side and
East Village, to Gramercy, Kips Bay, and Murray
Hill. Our opportunity agenda will unite us
around six core justice issues, more fully described
in this newspaper:
1. Responsible Economic Development
and Affordable Housing
2. Sustainable Education Reform
3. Intentional Youth Development
4. Fostering Intergenerational
Community
5. Community Safety
6. Disaster Preparedness and
Modernized Infrastructure
Community Insider
Seeks Change from
the Inside Out
Our adversary is a two-term incumbent seeking
a third term bought and paid for by Mayor
Bloomberg’s temporary repeal of New York
City’s Term Limit law. Ironically, during her
seven-plus years, she’s been a no-show representative
up to 25% of the time, among the
Council’s worst in absenteeism. Let’s tell Rosie
Mendez that District 2 is through with Bloomberg
and Council cronies who would attempt
to benefit from his term limit takeover while
neglecting core responsibilities like showing
up. It’s time to reclaim our City Council District
for our community, and to elect leadership
that refuses to sell out on the issues that matter
most to us.
Thirty-one years ago, my wife and I responded
to a call, just as our immigrant parents had a
generation earlier. Our parents left their homelands
searching for the promise of America in
New York City. In 1982, my wife and I – New
York City lifers – came to the Lower East Side
to restore the promise of America to one of
I envision a Council
District 2 that embraces our
extraordinary economic,
racial, and cultural
diversity from the Lower East
Side and East Village,
to Gramercy, Kips Bay, and
Murray Hill.
New York’s poorest neighborhoods.
Back then, the NYPD called the Lower East
Side the City’s heroin capital, “where they kill
people, sell their drugs, and sell their bodies.”
For more than three decades, we have
given all we are and have to this community.
Today, much of the community has been
sanitized, but extreme and growing economic
disparities have created tensions that simmer
just beneath the surface. On Rosie’s watch, we
have suffered the elimination of youth and
after-school programs, recreational and community
spaces, and the continual deterioration
of living conditions for NYCHA residents. Yet
plans progress to build luxury apartments in
the middle of low-income housing, which will
result in further loss of open spaces, recreation
areas, and ball fields; jobless rates remain
stagnant as homelessness has soared; and our
schools continue to underserve 75% of our
children.
Over the next few months, family, friends,
and neighbors like you will help us achieve
victories in September’s primary election, and
November’s general election. Together we can
win this race. Thank you for your support.
ENDORSEMENTS
The People Have
Spoken... It’s Time
for New Leadership
in District 2
“Pastor Rick has
always been an
e x e m p l a r y
person. In many
difficult times,
Pastor Rick and
his family have
been there for
us. They serve
the community. You can call him
any time. He is a mentor to many
children in this community and
many who were lost in the streets
and in gangs. I thank God for this
man of character.”
“Rick Del Rio has
done an amazing
job in this community.
Everything
he does,
he does it with
all his heart, 110
percent. He can be
counted on and
depended on.”
Eddie Milan,
Lower East Side resident
Evelyn Domenich,
Lower East Side resident
“Rick Del Rio
is a man of
character and
integrity who
doesn’t simply
talk about
change, but is
at the forefront
of it. I’m honored
and proud
to support his campaign.”
Andrew DeCurtis,
Philanthropist

WWW.RICHARDDELRIO.COM 3
“Rick Del Rio
has the heart
of a servant. I
admire him for
the love he has
for this community.
When
he sees someone
in need, he
doesn’t think twice about helping.
We need a person like him in office.
He is a person who steps up
and cares—not just by words, but
by actions.”
Marilyn Pastoriza,
Lower East Side resident
“Thank you, Rick
Del Rio, for stepping
up again to lead us.
Thank you for walking
the walk for thirty
years, and for your
willingness to fight
for us...”
“I’ve had the
privilege of
personally
working with
Rick Del Rio
for the past
three years. His
loyalty to the
community and
his obviously strong work ethic
make him not your typical politician.
This is a man who wants to
serve and lead and represent the
people. And I believe he can and
will do just that as City Council
Member of District 2! I’m grateful
to call a visionary and servant
leader like Rick Del Rio a colleague,
brother, and friend.”
Rev. Guy Wasko,
Trinity Grace Church
East Village
“Through the
years, I’ve seen
Rick Del Rio
get involved
in people’s lives.
Lives that were
destroyed, lost,
in need, hurting,
and empty.
He is a man with a heart for the
people of the community. Pastor
Rick is here to help anyone who is
in need—he loves them all.”
Ruby Carrasquillo,
Lower East Side resident
“I am not a resident
of Dictrict
2, but I have
embraced his
vision for the
community—
Rick Del Rio is a
game changer.
He has sacrificed
much for the sake of the community.
He makes practical and
realistic changes that have had a
positive impact here.”
Dr. Pierre Richard Arty
Elder, Abounding Grace Ministries
“Thank you,
Rick Del Rio,
for stepping up
again to lead us.
Thank you for
walking the
walk for thirty
years, and for
your willingness
to fight for us, with us, wherever
the fight takes you. Thank
you for your passion and courage
and commitment to our community,
and for showing people like
me how to truly live. I’m proud
to stand with you and support
your campaign for City Council
District 2.”
Edgar N., former gang member
turned business owner, lifelong
resident of Alphabet City, and
protégé of Rick Del Rio
‘AN AMERICAN HERO’
In 2001, Pastor Rick Del Rio was at the forefront of a relief and recovery effort at Ground Zero.
One of America’s historic generals defined
courage, saying it is “not the absence of fear,
but rather the willingness to do one’s duty
in the face of fear.” If you were trying to look for
a loophole, you would say, “How do I define my
duty?” But to a person who is not looking for a
way out, there is only one definition of courage,
and that is the way in.
When the 9-11 tragedy occurred, and smoke and Rex F. Duval
debris were rushing down each corresponding avenue, frightened
New Yorkers (rightly so) were running for their lives away from the
falling buildings, but there was a man moving in the other direction.
With no thought for his own safety, he advanced into the smoke, and
all the terror and uncertainty that had just exploded into his city and
country. That man is my friend of over 20 years, Richard Del Rio. He
drove his motorcycle directly into the problem, with only one selfless
purpose, one thought in mind—“How can I bring comfort and aid to
my fellow New Yorkers in this time of overwhelming need?”
When Hurricane Sandy struck and so many New Yorkers in his
district were suffering, Rick Del Rio and other community partners
set up the most effective feeding sight in the city right here in the
heart of the East Village (at least that’s what our mayor said), feeding,
encouraging, and offering hope to tens of thousands of his neighbors
and friends. Those he would gladly lay down his life to serve.
It is time for a hero! It is time for a man of honor, wisdom, and
strength to take the reins of this district. It’s time to elect someone
who is not afraid to represent the entire district with dignity, selflessness,
and courage! It is time to say yes to change, not for the sake
of change, that is foolishness, but rather for the sake of the future of
lower Manhattan and this great city. It is time to bring back integrity
and honor.
It is time for Richard Del Rio!
Rex F. Duval
President, Rex Duval Caterers, Inc.

4 RICK DEL RIO: FROM THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY
A Legacy of Service
The Del Rio family has been serving in Lower Manhattan for over 30 years.
Rick Del Rio may be a newcomer
to the political scene, but he
has been a public servant in
Lower Manhattan for over 30 years.
This entrepreneur, activist, and
pastor has a distinguished track
record of bold, courageous leadership.
Ask anyone who knows him,
and you’ll hear adjectives like: fearless,
faithful, compassionate.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
Rick Del Rio and Arlene, his wife
of 40 years, are New York City
originals. Both are children of immigrants
(his parents from Puerto
Rico and hers from Norway), they
met in Brooklyn after she graduated
from Columbia University and
began teaching science at his high
school. He was a student with a
checkered past and a crush; she
wasn’t interested. But she helped
rehabilitate him and five years later,
they married. Today, they are the
proud parents of four children and
seven grandchildren who also work
alongside them in ministry. Like
mom and dad, their children have a
heart for service. Jeremy is an attorney,
education activist, and youth
Rick and Arlene Del Rio and family
specialist; Jamie is a detective with
the New York City Police Department;
Jonathan is a teacher in the
public school system; and Mei Ling
is a registered nurse.
Additionally, Rick and Arlene Del
Rio have provided a home to as
many as seven neighborhood children
at a time.
“I’m a father in this community
and I take that as such a great honor,”
said Rick Del Rio in a recent
article on DNAinfo.com.
“Pastor Rick has been there for all of us.”
Yes, Rick Del Rio has a rich
legacy of impacting lives in New
York City…
FOR THE COMMUNITY
The Del Rios co-founded Abounding
Grace Ministries together in 1982
as a community outreach ministry
that partnered with neighborhood
churches and non-profits throughout
New York City. The Lower East
Side became home base, largely because
the NYPD identified it as the
heroin capital of the city, “where
they kill people, sell their drugs,
and sell their bodies.”
“He has a heart for these people.”
Ten years later, in 1992, they
birthed Abounding Grace Christian
Center as a neighborhood church
built from the community for the
community. Programs and services
AGM provides include homeless
outreach; substance abuse recovery;
leadership development; youth,
children, and family services; innovative
music and arts programs;
and local and international community
development work. Abounding
Grace’s pastors and leaders teach
at multiple colleges and graduate
schools and are sought after conference
speakers and trainers.
In 1996, Richard Del Rio cofounded
the Generation Xcel youth
center in the Jacob Riis Houses on
Avenue D with his son and thirteen
young people ages 13-22, and in
2008, inspired the launch of 20/20
Vision for Schools, an education
reform initiative that to date has
resulted in over 100 public-private
partnerships in schools across New
York City. AGM’s partner school
P.S. 34 received its first overall “A”
score on the 2012 Progress Report
after steady, incremental improvements
since 2006. In October 2000,
the Fund for the City of New York
awarded Rev. Del Rio the Union
Square Award for his work with
Generation Xcel.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Following Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt
in 2011 to evict faith-based
groups alone from renting vacant
spaces in public school buildings
during off hours, Rev. Del Rio became
one of the champions of the
Right to Worship movement on
behalf of sixty-plus neighborhood
congregations Bloomberg sought to
displace.
“Pastor Rick fights against
injustice.”
When Superstorm Sandy flooded
the Con Edison power plant
on East Fourteenth Street and
darkened lower Manhattan, New
York City failed to provide relief
supplies to the directly affected
Alphabet City neighborhood for
more than four days. But within
Rick Del Rio leads a massive relief outreach during the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

WWW.RICHARDDELRIO.COM 5
twenty-four hours of the storm,
Rev. Del Rio collaborated with
other faith and community leaders
to organize “Grace in the Storm,”
the largest relief site in Manhattan,
serving more than 20,000 people
hot meals, water, and other emergency
supplies.
Rev. Del Rio has served as a
NYPD Police-Clergy Liaison for
almost two decades, and is a
member of the NYC Clergy for
Justice and Ministers Fellowship
International. The Del Rios have
been featured in numerous media
reports, including CBS, NBC, Fox,
NY1, Daily News, Christianity Today,
and others.
FATHER HARLEY.
GROUND ZERO PASTOR
On September 11, 2001, Rick Del
Rio was one of the first clergy responders
to the terrorist attacks on
the World Trade Center – arriving
ten minutes after the second tower
collapsed – and is widely believed
to be the only identifiable clergyman
onsite after FDNY Chaplain Father
Mychal Judge perished.
“As I parked my motorcycle,” he
recalled, “I was immediately approached
by a police officer who
said, ‘Father, maybe you would like
to pray for these body parts.’ I re-
spectfully knelt and prayed. When
I got up, I noticed both towers had
fallen. The walking bridges were
blown up, fire trucks and emergency
apparatus were destroyed and
covered with debris and ash. The
surrounding buildings and vehicles
were destroyed. The silence was
deafening.”
But a voice would soon emerge to
help bring calm to chaos. The next
day, Rick Del Rio co-convened the
Northeast Clergy Group/Ground
Zero Clergy Task Force (NEC) as an
interdenominational coalition of regional
ministers committed to ongoing
relief and recovery. Firefighters
began calling him “Father Harley”
for his habit of arriving at firehouses
and at Ground Zero on his Harley
Davidson motorcycle. Immediately
following 9/11, the NEC initiated
onsite clergy counseling at Ground
Zero and disaster relief locations
throughout the City; bilingual clergy
counseling trainings; clergy support
networks; faith-based political
advocacy; the Ground Zero Relief
Fund; and various collaborative efforts
with national and international
aid organizations like World Vision,
Samaritan’s Purse, Billy Graham Association,
and more. NEC also coproduced
the Tribute to Grace and
Hope on the anniversary of 9/11 at
Madison Square Garden, for which
Rick Del Rio and other local leaders provided much-needed assistance
to the community following Superstorm Sandy.
Rick Del Rio served as pastoral
co-chair. The United States Senate
commended his heroic response to
9/11 in the Congressional Record in
October 2001.
ENTREPRENEUR
In addition to thirty years of community
development and neighborhood
activism, Richard Del Rio has
formed and led businesses as an
entrepreneur since his next door
neighbor hired him to paint his
stoop as a seven year old in Williamsburg.
At seventeen, he became
the youngest member of the Tapers
and Painters Union, and by nineteen
he formed his first construction
company.
For more than four decades since
then, Richard Del Rio has created
hundreds of jobs, training and
employing neighborhood young
people as a contractor and real
estate investor.
“Pastor Rick is a pioneer.”
Yes, a new trail needs to be
blazed for the people in District
2—the status quo will not suffice
any longer. And Rick Del Rio is a
leader with bold ideas and a platform
that will greatly impact all
residents. This political outsider
is a community insider, willing to
give his all for sustainable change
from the inside out. He’s FROM the
community, and he has a big heart
FOR the community.
“Father Harley” in days following 9/11

6 RICK DEL RIO: FROM THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY
The Issues
District 2 will celebrate economic
development and housing
initiatives that:
• Preserve and expand essential
businesses and community
organizations such as locallyowned
grocers and vendors, nonprofits,
and houses of worship.
• Balance market rate and
affordable housing options.
• Create living-wage jobs and
economic opportunities for the
underemployed.
• Eliminate excessive vacancies
and backlogged maintenance
issues in NYCHA operated public
housing developments.
Stat and various NYPD tactics
including Stop-and-Frisk.
• Expand the NYPD Clergy Liaison
program to empower grassroots
peacemakers.
• Reduce recidivism by expanding
transitional programs and job
options for ex-offenders.
• Reduce illegal guns on the streets
through expanded gun buy-back
programs.
• Empower gang intervention
specialists and programs to
create viable gang alternatives
for disconnected youth.
Rick Del Rio has a vision to restore
the community with economic
development and housing initiatives.
A VISIONARY YOU CAN TRUST
Rick Del Rio envisions a Manhattan
Community District 2 that embraces
its extraordinary economic,
racial, cultural, and religious diversity
while uniting around the core
issues listed below. As your City
Councilmember, Rick Del Rio will
represent the entire district while
pursuing an agenda of opportunity
and justice for all.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
AND RESPONSIBLE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
Rick Del Rio believes in economic
development that grows
and strengthens community, not
displaces it. As your City Councilmember,
he will fight to create and
ensure affordable housing for our
families, and protect our community
from developments that destroy
the character of our neighborhoods
and threaten our public spaces.
Under Rick Del Rio’s leadership,
• Redevelop the abandoned,
city-owned Baruch Bath House
as a holistic community and
recreation center.
COMMUNITY SAFETY
Rick Del Rio believes that the
safest neighborhoods combine effective
policing with community
responsibility. As your City Councilmember,
he will work to foster
the peace and prosperity of our
streets through partnerships with
the NYPD, government agencies,
after school and summer programs,
local businesses and community
stakeholders, and jobs and business
incubators. He will promote
compassion and justice through
homeless outreach, social service
referrals, community policing, and
greater transitional supports and
job opportunities for ex-offenders.
Rick Del Rio’s Community District
2 will support public safety policies
and programs that:
• Increase transparency for Comp-
INTENTIONAL YOUTH
DEVELOPMENT
Rick Del Rio believes empowered
youth can and will change the
world. As your City Councilmember,
he will mobilize community
assets through public-private partnerships
that respond to our students’
needs and empower them
as change agents in their homes,
schools, and neighborhoods.
Rick Del Rio will invest in outcomes-based,
community youth
development initiatives that:
• Promote educational enrichment,
art, and athletic opportunities for

WWW.RICHARDDELRIO.COM 7
all of our students, regardless of
economic status.
• Prioritize student leadership
development and activism.
• Foster meaningful adult relationships
as mentors, coaches,
councilors, and tutors.
• Empower so-called “disconnected
youth” – those not in school
or employed – with vocational
and life-skills training and
apprenticeships.
INTER-GENERATIONAL
COMMUNITY
Rick Del Rio believes that healthy
communities embrace generational
distinctions, and create safe spaces
for all ages to thrive. As your City
Councilmember, he will create an
environment in which children, seniors,
and everyone in between can
coexist peacefully in mutually enriching
relationships.
Rick Del Rio’s Community District 2
will nurture programs and services that:
• Provide safe spaces for children,
families, and senior populations
to gather and thrive.
• Protect community centers
and heritage centers, and foster
operational and programmatic
efficiencies among them.
• Strengthen the social safety net
for children, seniors, and other
vulnerable populations by combating
fraud and waste in Medicare,
Medicaid, and other social
entitlement programs.
• Provide opportunities for inter-generational
transfers of wisdom through
mentoring, cross-cultural communication,
and shared mission.
• Celebrate community milestones
and cultural achievements.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
AND MODERNIZED
INFRASTRUCTURE
Rick Del Rio believes that mitigating
the effects of natural and manmade
disasters requires deepening
our emergency preparedness,
expanding grassroots partnerships
where people actually live and
work every day, and modernizing
our City’s infrastructure to reflect
changing demographic, economic,
and environmental realities. As
your City Councilmember, he will
reinvest in our City’s future by
replacing inefficient technologies,
rebuilding degraded systems, and
nurturing networks of grassroots
compassion providers.
Rick Del Rio’s Community District
2 will improve our City’s emergency
responsiveness and create
community partnerships that:
• Improve the infrastructure in
lower Manhattan to protect
against future flooding and
power outages.
• Ensure that our residents are
connected with jobs improving
their own
communities.
• Mobilize communities to lead
rebuilding efforts on their own
behalf with supports from
governmental and nongovernmental
aid partners.
• Expedite disaster relief and
rebuilding assistance.
SUSTAINABLE
EDUCATION REFORM
Rick Del Rio believes
that the moral test of a
society is how we treat
our children, and that
New York City has
failed the same test
year after year for
decades by failing
to educate the urban
poor despite
promising equal access
to quality education for
all. The promise of public education
can be realized in our most
distressed communities and sustained
for generations when students
and community stakeholders
join educators to address the
challenges holistically. As your City
Councilmember, he will inspire
and mobilize such partnerships.
Rick Del Rio’s Community District
2 will pioneer and expand school
and community partnerships that:
• Unleash the potential of 1.1 million
public school students to change
the culture of their classrooms
through positive peer pressure.
• Fill gaps for our neediest students,
so that they can focus on
academics in the classroom and
not the stresses of poverty.
• Promote educational enrichment,
art, and athletic opportunities for
all of our students, regardless of
economic status.
As evidenced by his leadership following
Superstorm Sandy, Rick Del Rio has a
proven track record and bold new ideas
for emergency preparedness. In 2012,
many residents received food and supplies
in the wake of Sandy (pictured below).

PRIMARY ELECTION
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
The People’s Voice is published and paid for by Friends of Richard Del Rio
Phone: (212) 505-3300 Email: Info@RichardDelRio.com Website: www.RichardDelRio.com
Mailing address: 100 Avenue C, New York, NY 10019
Cover image by Michael Mowery Photography
Additional photography: Jeremy Del Rio, Jonathan Adkins, and Christian F. Monzon
Design: Lightly Salted Graphics