Rosie Méndez
Rosie Méndez is an American Democratic politician who served in the New York City Council from the 2nd district from 2006 to 2017. Méndez's district included all or parts of Chelsea, the East Village, the Flatiron District, Gramercy, Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, Midtown, Murray Hill, NoHo, and Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan.
As of 2023, she is director of Community Affairs for Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
Early life and education
Méndez grew up in the Williamsburg Houses, a New York City Housing Authority development. The child of Puerto Rican parents, she attended New York City public schools through high school. She graduated from New York University and Rutgers Law School in Newark. In 2011, Méndez completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett Leadership Fellow.Career
She began as a tenant organizer in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She then worked on citywide housing issues as a housing specialist at the Parodneck Foundation. In 1995, Méndez graduated from law school and worked as an IOLA Legal Services Fellow at Brooklyn Legal Services. As a legal staff worker she became a member of the United Auto Workers.Prior to her election to the council, Méndez was the Democratic District Leader for her community for four terms. She served for three years as the Chief of Staff and Legislative Aide to her predecessor City Councilwoman Margarita Lopez.
New York City Council
In 2005, Méndez won the heavily contested Democratic primary for New York City's 2nd City Council district. In the heavily Democratic district, the primary victory was considered tantamount to election. After a landslide victory in the general election in November 2005, Méndez took office as the 2nd district's councilwoman in January 2006. She was re-elected in 2009 and 2013. Méndez was term-limited in the 2017 election.In 2017 she endorsed and was succeeded by her former legislative director Carlina Rivera.