After working for several years in accounting and corporate finance, Velázquez suffered serious injuries after multiple accidents in 2012. She joined
Bronx Community Board 10 and was elected as a Democratic District Leader for the 82nd Assembly district, a position she still holds.[4]
Velázquez's main opponent in the Democratic primary was
AssemblymanMark Gjonaj, who ran to Velázquez's right and spent over $700,000, a record for a City Council campaign.[7] Velázquez lost the primary by a 38-34% margin, with three other candidates taking the remainder.[8] Soon after, Velázquez indicated she would be back, saying, "Would I ever run again? Most definitely."[9]
2021 City Council campaign
Velázquez announced in 2020 that she would seek a
2021 rematch with Gjonaj, citing the repeated scandals Gjonaj found himself combating during his first term.[10][11][12] In February 2021, however, Gjonaj announced he would not seek re-election, saying that the political climate was "not favorable to a centrist ideology that my constituency, community and I embrace."[13]
Now running for an open seat, Velázquez would go on to win the five-way Democratic primary in June 2021. She won the subsequent November 2021 general election with a near-identical 56.3% of the vote and took office in January 2022.[14][15][16][17]
City Council
In 2022, Velázquez protested against turning an unused building on
Jacobi Medical Center’s campus into housing for ex-convicts with complex medical needs (such as Stage 4 cancer or congestive heart failure).[18] That same year, she also opposed the construction of 349 housing units (168 of which were affordable housing) in Throggs Neck.[19][20][21] She later changed her view, supporting the Throggs Neck development.[21]