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City Limits Managing Editor Jeanmarie Evelly talks with Spanish-language reporter Daniel Parra about his recent profile of Jose Serrano, who retired at the end of 2020 after representing the South Bronx in Congress for 30 years.
Flickr/Congressman Serrano’s office
Rep. Serrano marching in the Puerto Rican Day Parade in 2011.Earlier this month, Congressman José Serrano—who represented the South Bronx for 30 years, making him the longest-serving Latino representative in Washington—retired from his seat, following his earlier decision not to run for re-election for health reasons.
In this week’s episode of The Check In, City Limits’ Spanish-language reporter Daniel Parra talks about Serrano’s legacy in politics, where he was known as a measured lawmaker who worked behind-the-scenes to broker deals and build relationships (civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton described him as a “thermometer leader,” who “takes the temperature of the room.”)
Hear the full conversation — which includes a discussion of Serrano’s love for Frank Sinatra, and the Bronx River beaver named after him — below.