Carlina Rivera (born January 3, 1984) is an American politician who represents the 2nd district of the New York City Council since 2018. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes portions of the East Village, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, Lower East Side, Murray Hill and Rose Hill in Manhattan. Rivera was a candidate in the Democratic primary for New York's 10th congressional district in 2022. Early life and education Rivera grew up on the Lower East Side, where she was raised in Section 8 housing by a single mother who moved from Puerto Rico to mainland USA. She graduated from Notre Dame School in Manhattan and Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she majored in journalism. Career Rivera worked as director of programs and services at Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), a local nonprofit organization focused on neighborhood housing and preservation, economic development, and community revitalization. She was also a member of Manhattan Community Board 3 and later served as the legislative director for Rosie Mendez. New York City Council 2016-17 City Council campaign Rivera launched her campaign for City Council in 2016, running for the 2nd District, which encompasses the East Village, Flatiron, Gramercy Park, Rose Hill, Kips Bay, Murray Hill and the Lower East Side. A first-time candidate who participated in public financing, she raised $176,000 through the City’s matching funds program. Rivera was endorsed by the Working Families Party, then City Public Advocate Letitia James, then City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, and the City Council’s Progressive Caucus. Rivera and her husband, Jamie Rogers, lived in a federally subsidized, low-income Section 8 apartment with an annual income limit of $61,050 for a family of two. Rogers, a former corporate lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, owns a growing coffee business, a Grand Street co-op apartment in Lower Manhattan, which he rents out, and a small family trust fund. Pictures of Rogers on his father William P. Rogers Jr., a retired Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, were deleted before the Democratic primary. Their eligibility was questioned as Rivera’s salary as a City Council staffer was $41,770, which means her husband would have had to earn less than $20,000 a year in order for the family to be under the limit. Rogers explained his financial situation in an interview with The Villager and defended their eligibility due to his struggling coffee business