As the NYPD and its ethos fall under greater scrutiny by lawmakers, Councilmember Fernando Cabrera distinguished himself from the rest of the Democratic candidates in the race for Bronx Borough President by recently accepting the endorsement of the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA), one of the NYPD unions whose leaders have proven to be a thorn on the side of Democrats.
It's a rare endorsement of a Democrat from a police union that regularly leans Republican, most recently throwing their support to GOP Representatives Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island/Brooklyn and Elise Stefanik in the North Country. The two went on to win the November election.
The endorsement also represents a kind of gamble for Cabrera, who's running for office in a borough that's dealt with years of aggressive stop-and-frisk encounters and questionable shootings by NYPD officers. On one hand, the endorsement can bring Cabrera volunteers for phone banking, access to campaign donations, and targeted messaging to the 13,000 active members and prospective voters. In their endorsement, the SBA considered Cabrera (whose name was misspelled in the press release) a “source of strong and steady support” in the last decade Cabrera’s been in office.
“So many elected officials have abandoned their support of the police because of the way the [way] political winds are blowing,” Ed Mullins, the SBA president, said in a statement announcing the endorsement. “Councilman Carbrera [sic] realizes the challenges we face and has never wavered in his support. In an era of great political upheaval and divisiveness, he has worked hard to bring people together and earn our trust.”
On the other hand, by accepting the endorsement, Cabrera—who leads candidates in fundraising—inherits the union's controversial baggage, including its litany of comments made by Mullins.
The endorsement is indicative of the Democratic lane Cabrera’s attempting to position himself in, as other viable candidates stick to the progressive Democrat approach that likely will split the vote. Indeed, Cabrera has long been pegged as a more socially conservative Democrat than his rivals given his voting record in which he did not support a bill that allowed New Yorkers to switch their chosen gender designation.
Cabrera also leads a flock of nondenominational congregants as pastor at New Life International Church, which includes a "Statement of Faith" on their website that declares marriage is only between a man and woman. His positions were underscored after a controversial video that surfaced in 2014 showed him supporting the Ugandan government’s anti-gay marriage stance.
But he has also leaned in on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s criminal justice policies that include funding for the Cure Violence model where former gang members are hired to defuse potential disputes between gangs and crews. In the last decade since representing the 14th Council District, Cabrera has earmarked thousands of dollars for security cameras across the district. On his campaign website, he states his intent to apply that strategy Bronx-wide if elected borough president.
He has also been critical of police tactics in the past, declaring officers should take a knee in solidarity with demonstrators during last year’s protest against police violence.
Other contenders in the race include Councilmember Vanessa Gibson, Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez, state Senator Luis Sepulveda, and Samuel Ravelo, who was passed over by the SBA despite serving in the NYPD and remaining a vocal proponent in maintaining the department’s outsized budget. The five are vying for the seat that will be vacated by current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. when his 12-year term ends this year.
John DeSio, vice president at the public relations firm Risa Heller Communications and who previously served as director of communications for Diaz Jr., argued that the SBA’s endorsement of Cabrera was not necessarily needed since Cabrera has long been recognized as a moderate Democrat.
“Fernando Cabrera has always had a more moderate, centrist reputation,” DeSio told Gothamist/WNYC. “He didn't need the SBA's endorsement to prove that, but now that he has it he’s in the position where he could potentially be forced to answer for a lot of the really unpleasant to heinous things that they’ve said about people in recent months, including people in the Bronx.”
Some of those targets of defamation include Cabrera’s former Council colleague turned Representative Ritchie Torres. Two months after winning the primary for the Bronx’s 15th Congressional District seat, in which he defeated SBA-backed Democratic candidate Ruben Diaz Sr. (Diaz Jr.'s father), Torres suggested that the summer crime spike was largely due to an unconfirmed NYPD work slowdown. Mullins shot back at Torres by calling him a “first-class whore,” prompting Torres to call the SBA a “bona fide hate group.” A complaint against Mullins was eventually filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
"The SBA is pure poison," Torres told Gothamist.
The SBA also went after de Blasio’s daughter Chiara last June after tweeting out her arrest record filed after participating in a police accountability protest last year. At the time, Torres and Council Speaker Corey Johnson had called for an investigation into who leaked the arrest sheet. The SBA also took heat last year after posting a tweet calling former city Health Department Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot a "bitch" following a story involving a dispute over masks between the Health Department and the NYPD.
Mullins—a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump—further generated controversy in July after appearing on Fox News from his office where a mug with a logo for QAnon, the conspiracy theory that alleges that devil-worshipping sex predators affiliated with the Democratic Party are attempting to overthrow Trump, can be seen in the background. Mullins did not respond to a request for comment.
Notwithstanding the political baggage that comes with an SBA endorsement, receiving it can play well in more moderate Democratic neighborhoods, notably in eastern sections of the Bronx that include Throggs Neck, Country Club, and Morris Park, areas that were represented by former state Senator Jeff Klein.
Klein had formed the Independent Democratic Conference, which shared power with Republicans, bringing all sorts of discretionary funding to the borough. Those areas are represented by Councilmember Mark Gjonaj, another centrist Democrat who supported Cabrera's short-lived run for the 14th Congressional District, currently held by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (Klein was defeated in 2018 by Alessandra Biaggi.)
While pockets of the Bronx have consistently lauded the police, and even held "Back the Blue" rallies, it's also a borough where staunch critics of the police have made their voices heard. Those voices were amplified following the arrests of dozens of protesters in a demonstration in Mott Haven on June 4th last year. Many of those protesters were kettled by police, resulting in a city Department of Investigation probe that found the NYPD's response was "deeply flawed."
Cabrera did not return a request for comment.
