{"id":154794,"date":"2026-03-06T00:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154794\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T00:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:47:09","slug":"former-nyc-council-member-ronnie-eldridge-dies-at-91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154794\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NYC council member Ronnie Eldridge dies at 91"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ronnie Eldridge,<\/a> an outspoken Manhattan activist, local television host who served on the City Council for 22 years, and wife of the late author and columnist Jimmy Breslin, died on Thursday. She was 91.<\/p>\n

Whether she was advocating for women, championing peace causes or sharing the spotlight with her larger-than-life newspaper columnist husband, Eldridge always managed to stay relevant, a description she borrowed for her popular public affairs program.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Andrew Schwartz\/For New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Former City Councilmember Ronnie Eldridge with her husband, author and columnist Jimmy Breslin in their home in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeeping Relevant with Ronnie Eldridge,\u201d<\/a> produced by the City University of New York, tackled such issues as voting rights, child welfare and criminal justice, and featured a number of newsmaking guests, including Breslin, her Pulitzer Prize-winning husband.<\/a><\/p>\n

The high-profile marriage between the feminist politician and the gruff city columnist inspired the CBS sitcom, \u201cAmerican Nuclear,\u201d\u00a0 a show about their blended family.<\/p>\n

\"PulitzerPulitzer Prize-winner and New York Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin is pictured with his wife, Ronnie Eldridge, at their home in New York City in January 1989. (AP Photo\/Mario Suriani)<\/p>\n

Eldridge and Breslin were the parents of nine children and 11 grandchildren. They married in 1982, and remained together until Breslin\u2019s death in 2017.<\/p>\n

But Eldridge was making headlines long before she and Breslin got together.<\/p>\n

\"JimmyJimmy Breslin rehearses lines with his wife, Ronnie Eldridge, on May 18, 1986, ahead of his appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” (Misha Erwitt \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

A 1977 headline in the New York Times<\/a> announced her entry into a crowded Manhattan Borough President race.<\/p>\n

She was the only woman in a contest to succeed Percy Sutton, a pattern she found troubling, but all too common.<\/p>\n

\"FromFrom left, feminist, journalist and political activist, Gloria Steinem, activist, politician and businesswoman Ronnie Eldridge and founding editor of the Liberal Feminist Magazine, Patricia Carbine, are pictured circa 1970. (Photo by Archive Photos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t large differences on the issues but we have definite personality differences,\u201d Eldridge said at the time. \u201c And I am a woman and I think that\u2019s the strongest asset I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

She lost. More than a decade later, she would lean on her experience as a Democratic district leader in Manhattan, a vice chairman of the party\u2019s national platform committee and a deputy city administrator for former Mayor John Lindsay to win a seat on the city council, representing Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side.<\/p>\n

\"HillaryHillary Clinton, right, appears on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan alongside City Councilwoman Ronnie Eldridge, left, during a rally for a bill pending in congress on gender-based violence on June 22, 2000. (Mike Albans \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

She also worked in the administration of former Gov. Mario Cuomo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m extremely sad to learn of the passing of former NYC Councilmember Ronnie M. Eldridge, a great Manhattan leader, with deep roots in the womens\u2019 and peace movements, an astute grasp of local and municipal politics, and a record of service devoted to opening doors and breaking down barriers,\u201d Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal wrote in a social media post.<\/a><\/p>\n

Before running for office, Eldridge was an executive producer at Channel 13, where she worked on such television series as \u201cWoman Alive!\u201d<\/p>\n

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