Bronx pol’s secret Facebook page with staffer boytoy
By CANDICE M. GIOVE
August 12, 2012
She’s a real swing voter.
To constituents, she’s Naomi D. Rivera, a mild-mannered, bespectacled Bronx assemblywoman whose social-media page is dotted with her accomplishments, thoughtful sayings and the latest neighborhood news.
But on another, secret Facebook page, she’s Daniela Rivera, a sultry single 47-year-old who shows off her curves, her dance moves and, in one photo accessible to the public, the top of her lacy red bra.
But more than anything, the lawmaker’s Internet alter-ego is devoted to Tommy Torres, a fellow Democrat eight years her junior whom she has been dating for at least two years — and whom she put on her government payroll.
DATERS GONNA DATE: Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera’s “private” Facebook page shows her with beau Tommy Torres and dressed in skimpy clothes with a gal pal.
As 'Daniela Rivera'
Dozens of photos on Daniela’s page show Rivera with her hunky “babe” in various poses — locking lips, nuzzling his cheek and dirty dancing.
The legislator began posting romantic photos of Torres in 2009, when she created the page under “Daniela,” her middle name, and a year before she hired him or finalized her divorce from husband Antonio Rodriguez.
Torres pulled down $18,123 in taxpayer-funded salary while working out of Rivera’s Morris Park district office for four months in 2010, records show.
But exactly what he did for his $1,100-a-week rate remains unclear — as does the question of how it was even possible for him to work for Rivera when he was already working full time as a gym teacher and high-school sports coach.
According to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office and Assembly records, Torres was listed as a “full-time” community-relations director for Rivera from Aug. 30, 2010, until Jan. 1, 2011.
At the same time, city Department of Education records indicate, he worked full time at Brooklyn’s PS 157 and made extra money coaching after class. In 2010, he earned a total of $89,550 from the DOE, records show.
Now, after hooking up with the daughter of one of The Bronx’s most powerful political families, he’s aiming for a new job — the open City Council seat in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Torres did not return repeated calls for comment.
Rivera denies Torres had a no-show job in her office. “Mr. Torres did work part time for my district office,” Rivera told The Post through a message via Naomi’s Facebook page.
“It was for a period of four months ending in 2010. Because of his background in education, during those four months he was actively involved representing me in educational and at community events.”
She did not respond to requests for a detailed log of his hours or events he handled. While not denying they were an item, she refused to answer questions about their relationship.
“The Facebook page you are referring to is my own personal page, having nothing to do with my professional career, and I wish you would respect my privacy,” she said.
Her Facebook photos and comments make it clear that romance is in the air. She shows off 1-carat diamond earrings he purchased her for Valentine’s Day, in one photo. In another, Torres kisses her atop a snow-capped Poconos mountain. She writes underneath: “And then he kissed her...what does it all mean??? He loves her...he loves her not.....He loves her...he loves her not...”
Rivera writes under another photo showing them hugging at a Mets game, “[Heart] Ya Babe!” two months before Rivera hired him.
They are seen on his Facebook page attending the governor’s State of the State Address in 2010.
But long before Torres entered the Facebook picture, “Daniela” was posting racy comments and photos. In one, she’s hugging a hairdresser suggestively, over the comment, “My Floridian stud.”
After Post inquiries, she took down the Daniela page.
Rivera’s father is former Bronx Democratic Party boss and Assemblyman José Rivera, who in 2008 lost control of the borough machine amid charges of nepotism. Her brother is Joel Rivera, a city councilman.
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