Peter Rivera (born November 12, 1946) is an American politician who represented District 76 in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

, which comprises West Farms,

Van Nest Van Nest is a working-class neighborhood geographically located in the East Bronx section of the Bronx, New York City. Going clockwise, its boundaries are Bronxdale Avenue to the northeast, the Amtrak tracks to the southeast, and Bronx Park to ...

, Castle Hill and

Parkchester Parkchester is a planned community and neighborhood originally developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and located in the east Bronx, New York City. The immediate surrounding area also takes its name from the complex. Its boundari ...

. He later served as the New York State Commissioner of Labor.

Early life and education

Born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

, Rivera earned a degree in business administration from

Pace University Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...

in 1968, and a J.D. from St. John's University School of Law in 1974. The following year, he was admitted to the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

Career

Rivera began his career as a patrolman and detective with the

New York Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

. Rivera then became an agent with the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

. After graduating from law school, he began to work as an assistant

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

in the Homicide Bureau of the

Bronx County District Attorney The Bronx County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for Bronx County, which is coterminous with the Borough of the Bronx, in New York City. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws. (Feder ...

's Office. He has been in private law practice since 1978. First elected to the Assembly in 1992, Rivera was the Chairman of the New York Assembly's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task force and Assembly Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Developmental Disabilities. He was the highest-ranking self-described Latino officeholder within the State Assembly. In the summer of 2010, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that Rivera would face a Democratic primary election challenge from Bronx lawyer Luis R. Sepúlveda. Rivera went on to defeat Sepulveda in the 2010 primary. Rivera resigned from his assembly seat in 2012 to take the position of New York State Commissioner of Labor.

References

External links

Biography: New York State Democratic CommitteeNew York State Assembly Member Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Peter 1946 births Living people Lawyers from Ponce American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Drug Enforcement Administration agents Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York City Police Department officers New York (state) lawyers Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Politicians from the Bronx Politicians from Ponce Puerto Rican law enforcement personnel Pace University alumni St. John's University School of Law alumni 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature