A longtime Bronx resident is ready to champion her East Bronx community’s needs as their next state Assembly representative.
Irene Guanill, a deep-rooted real estate broker and community advocate, is running for New York State Assembly’s 82nd District on the Republican, Conservative and Vote Affordable party lines in the upcoming New York State Assembly elections in Novemeber.
New York State’s 82nd Assembly District includes East Bronx neighborhoods City Island, Country Club, Co-op City, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck and Westchester Square.
Guanill, who advanced from the Conservative Party primary in June, will challenge incumbent Assembly Member and Democrat Michael Benedetto, who has held the elected political position since 2005.
Guanill’s campaign is primarily focused on lowering the cost of living and housing expenses, supporting law enforcement and community safety, as well as increasing accountability in government.
“I made it a mission to learn everything about this district in the [year-long] process,” Guanill said. “I am at peace with how I campaigned and now it’s time to get the message out. It’s been a very humbling experience up to this point.”
If victorious, Guanill said she will turn her much of her attention to Co-op City, a state-supervised Mitchell-Lama development and the largest single residential housing co-op and residential development in the United States, which is home to roughly 50,000 residents.
“As a real estate broker — we are the boots on the ground for potential homeowners, and it’s part of my goal to always advocate for home ownership and affordable rent,” she said.
Established in 1955, the Mitchell-Lama Program is a non-subsidy state program which was established to provide affordable rental and limited-equity cooperative housing for moderate and middle-income families.
It was also designed to encourage private developers to build affordable housing by offering tax abatements and low-interest government-backed mortgages in exchange for capped profits and regulated rent.
Decades later, however, the Mitchell-Lama Program has also created several vulnerabilities, such as financial distress, rent spikes, inefficient vacancy management, property oversight and potential fraud vulnerabilities for homeowners.
“Nobody should be forced to live in an uncomfortable situation because of a dollar,” Guanill said. “That’s not homeownership — a homeownership needs to involve profit for the homeowner, not just the building owner.”
In addition to coming to the aid of Co-op City residents, Guanill also said she wants to start town hall meetings for waterside neighborhoods in the East Bronx to come up with strategies for coastal flooding and storm water retention in susceptible areas. She also said she hopes to eliminate cannabis dispensaries from the district.
Guanill, who moved to the Bronx from Long Island when she was seven years old, is a licensed real estate broker in New York State, as well as a property manager and the founder of Meet the Sellers Realty, LLC in Pelham Bay.
Currently a resident of Country Club, Guanill began her career in the mid-2000s by purchasing, investing in and renovating foreclosed homes. She also served on Bronx Community Board 10 from 2014 to 2022 and has headed the Pelham Bay Merchants Association since 2012.
Election Day will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
