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AOC's Neighbors Reveal Truth That Could Shatter Her 'For the People' Image

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is from the Bronx? Did you know that? She’s awfully fond of telling us that.

If I know anything about Ocasio-Cortez, it’s that a) she’s the author of the Green New Deal, b) she’s the boss and c) she’s from the Bronx.

Except nobody really seems to have seen her there anytime lately, at least according to a report published Saturday by the New York Post.

“She may be America’s most famous freshman congresswoman, but in New York, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a virtual ghost,” the Post reported.

“She has no district office and no local phone number, unlike the state’s three other freshman members.

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“And it’s unclear whether the 29-year-old lawmaker, who represents the Bronx and Queens, actually still lives in the Parkchester neighborhood that has been so closely tied to her rise — even though she won her upset victory over fellow Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley with accusations that his home in Virginia made him too Washington-focused to serve his district.”

Ocasio-Cortez had claimed her deceased father’s condo in Parkchester as her residence since 2012, but the Post couldn’t find any evidence she actually spent very much time there.

Her next-door neighbor claims to have never laid eyes upon her, at least not in the building. Several local businesses, including the local supermarket, say they’ve never seen her, either. People at a local taqueria actually say that they’ve seen her — but only when she’s taking photos for the press.

“A postal worker who delivers mail to the building said that in the last 10 years, he has only seen Ocasio-Cortez intermittently, and that several months’ worth of mail regularly accumulates in the mailbox before anyone bothers to collect it. The worker said that Ocasio-Cortez and (boyfriend Riley) Roberts were the only ones getting mail at the address,” the Post reported.

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“Just because their names are on the box doesn’t mean they live there,” he told the Post.

In a follow-up story published Sunday, the Post reported that Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent said she had moved to a new apartment “a block and a half away.”

He declined to give the address.

In a Twitter post published Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez cited the arrest last week of a Coast Guard lieutenant accused of compiling weapons and a “hit list” of prominent Democrats, including Ocasio-Cortez, as a reason to keep her location information under wraps.

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“I still live in my hood and literally instagrammed from my apartment tonight,” she wrote. “A man was just arrested last week with a stockpile of guns specifically trying to kill me & others, so yeah I’m not gonna disclose my personal address or tell people when I move. Sorry!”

Regardless, since Trent said the move took place earlier this month, it doesn’t explain why Ocasio-Cortez alleged neighbors haven’t seen her around for years.

This isn’t the first time questions have arisen about the Ocasio-Cortez’ residency — she’s apparently even had them herself. The Post noted that she had actually filed paperwork to run in the neighboring congressional district, New York District 15, before she got the right one. That’s an error Joe Crowley probably wishes would have gone uncorrected.

There’s also the fact that Ocasio-Cortez has yet to open up a local district office, a fact that she blames on the landlord for her predecessor attempting to double the price of the lease.

Unfortunately, there’s actually not much that can be done so long as Ocasio-Cortez actually lives in the state.

Here’s what the Constitution says about requirements for serving in the House of Representatives: “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.” (Emphasis added.)

In fact, The Washington Post reported in June 2017 that during the last Congress, it could find at least 21 representatives who were registered to vote outside their district.

That’s not entirely the point, though: The Bronx address has added to the Ocasio-Cortez mythos. She’s a woman of the people, one of the Bronx’s own. Until she’s not, of course. And, according to the Post, she’s gone to cartoonish lengths to conceal any information about where she might actually live when she’s in New York.

The Post contacted the representative’s office with specific questions, including where she lived. Her staffers originally said they wouldn’t be commenting, but they appeared to change their mind.

“On Saturday night, a staffer promised a Post reporter that Ocasio-Cortez would talk to him after a speaking event in Corona,” the Post reported.

“During the event, two staffers were seen reading an early edition of this story on their phones.

“’Come downstairs, I have to take a picture quick,’ the congresswoman then told the reporter after the event, instructing him to wait for her. Twenty minutes later, she ducked out a back door, jumped into a chauffeured SUV, and zoomed off.”

To the Bronx, one presumes.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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