Prior to his election to the Assembly in 1982, Rivera gained prominence as a labor advocate and organizer of construction workers and "gypsy" taxicab drivers.[2]
During his tenure as County Leader of the Bronx, Rivera was frequently advised by Mike Nieves, a Democratic party consultant and strategist.[3] Rivera was a vocal advocate for the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from its bombing range on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and was arrested in 2001, together with Al Sharpton and other political figures, for trespassing onto the Navy's Vieques facility. The Navy subsequently agreed to withdraw from the Vieques facility. Two of his children, Joel Rivera and Naomi Rivera, were formerly elected officials in the Bronx, and were members of the New York City Council and New York State Assembly, respectively.
In the 2022 primary, he lost his re-nomination bid to George Alvarez.
^Krohn-Hansen, Christian (2007). "Chapter 5: The Understanding of Migration and the Discourse of Nationalism: Dominicans in New York City". In Lien, Marianne Elisabeth; Melhuus, Marit (eds.). Holding Worlds Together: Ethnographies of Knowing and Belonging. Berghahn Books. p. 86. ISBN978-1-84545-250-6. Retrieved October 25, 2010. '...Then the Puerto Ricans, who are the pioneers in this struggle, began to offer services with the so-called gypsy cabs, cars that weren't regulated by the city...We had a Puerto Rican who was born in this industry, José Rivera...'
