Bittman John "Bimbo" Rivas (November 11, 1939 – May 21, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor, community activist, director, playwright, poet, and teacher who lived in the Lower East Side of New York City. He also served in the U.S. Air Force. He was one of the pioneers of the Nuyorican Movement and was involved in the Nuyorican Poets Café. Life Bittman (Bimbo) Rivas got his nickname because of his birth name Bittman. He was teased as a child and called Bimbo, instead of Bittman. He later, as a teenager saw a movie where an elephant named Bimbo was loved and respected. At that moment he had decided to empower the name and made it his own. The name lasted, as he was from that point on known to everyone as Bimbo Rivas. Bimbo Rivas was much more down to earth and his journey led him to NYC's Lower East Side where he spent the rest of his life. In the Lower East Side, Bimbo found affordable housing, in one of the top locations in New York and in the 1970s moved there with his family. He soon noticed the place was in a continual stage of deterioration, not just because of the crumbling and empty buildings around him, but also due to the declining morale of its people. Some faced horrible living conditions, with people squatting in buildings and others warming up by 55 gallons on the sidewalk or empty lots. Yet others were being swept into or by the crime wave prevalent in most of New York in those days. From his experiences, Bimbo was moved to write the "Loisaida" poem that today gives the Lower East Side its nickname. Bimbo also recognized an opportunity to turn things around and improve quality of life for Loisaida's residents, whom he considered his family whether by blood or association. He tackled the quality of life issue by reconciling the needs of the residents with available government programs to improve communities. He helped people that had lived in buildings for years finally get a title to their property, and guided others to work with authorities to force landlords to maintain their properties and make them livable so they could collect their rents and the residents had better apartments they could feel proud of. These and other activities helped give momentum to a tremendous transformation of the Lower East Side that by