City Council Member-elect Ydanis Rodriguez' first job in the United States was washing dishes at O'Hara's restaurant on 1st Avenue. It was 1983. He worked Tuesday through Sunday from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. for $160 per week and lived with his sister, Victoria, on Sherman Avenue.

He was 18 years old.

"When teenagers were hanging out on the street, I was getting ready to take the A-train," Rodriguez said.

During a lengthy, relaxed interview on Nov. 5, three days after District 10 Northern Manhattanites voted him into office in the General Election, Rodriguez described how he had lived the full immigrant experience, from providing cheap labor after he first arrived, to educating himself to begin a professional career, to running for, and finally winning, elected office.

Thin and tall, with a gentle demeanor that hides the passionate heart of an activist, Rodriguez is one of 13 children in his family. His seven eldest siblings are all girls.

One of those sisters, Zoila, probably had the greatest influence on the man he has become.

"My older sister was the last one to be married because she said she didn't want to be married until she had a degree," Rodriguez said. "She was the first one in my family to get involved in social issues."

Zoila made sure that her little brother joined groups like the Boy Scouts and learned the importance of helping others. Zoila was also the first in the family to get a green card to come to the United States, but was the last to use it. She stayed because of the social issues she was working on.

Zoila also taught him to temper his enthusiasm.

When George H.W. Bush visited the Dominican Republic as head of the CIA, Rodriguez, then 12 or 13 years old, joined a demonstration against the future president of the United States. When he got home Zoila asked why he had joined the protest. He couldn't clearly articulate his intentions.

"Never do anything unless you know why," he recalled her saying.

After quitting his dish washing job, Rodriguez spent two years making sandwiches for a company located on the 93rd floor of the World Trade Center. He was promoted to assistant manager and more than doubled his weekly salary to $400 – a significant amount for a family living well under the poverty line.

It was then he made a decision that changed his life.

"It was a tough question," Rodriguez said. "Should I keep working and save money, or should I go to school?"

Following his sister's lead he went to school, enrolling at City College on W. 138th Street and Convent Avenue.

Half of his free time, Rodriguez said, was spent on student issues, and half working in the community.

As a student he led two successful non-violent demonstrations and a week-long takeover of administration offices in protest of Governor Mario Cuomo's plan to more than double the then $700 tuition costs at CUNY schools. That protest ended with a march from the governor's offices in the World Trade Center to John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

"We marched, and the day after Mario Cuomo announced he would not raise tuition," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez' biggest accomplishment to date is the co-founding of Gregorio Luperon Preparatory School in 1992 where he went to work as a social studies teacher.

The school, which started in a basement location outside of the neighborhood, grew into a four-year high school in a leased warehouse on W. 181st Street. Luperon focuses on educating high school students who are newly arrived English language learners.

In 1997, Rodriguez and other activists began another endeavor that made lasting results, organizing the Dominicans 2000 convention, an event that Rodriguez called America's largest conference focused on issues facing Dominicans. Over 1,500 people from 30 different states, Spain, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic came together during the three-day event. Hillary Clinton, who at the time was campaigning for Senate, delivered the keynote address.

"It was after that conference where I was encouraged to run [for office]," Rodriguez said.

Starting that February, Rodriguez built a campaign with the contacts from the conference. It was a notable group of talented local activists who have since worked at every level of government, served on foundations, headed non-profits and won a Pulitzer Prize.

"We had an army," Rodriguez remembers, including the endorsement of "all of the labor movement."

His main opponents in the 2001 Democratic Primary were Miguel Martinez, who was backed by Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat, and Roberto Lizardo, who had made a name for himself on the local school board. In a raucous race, Rodriguez came in third, but still earned 3,111 votes, about 1,000 behind Martinez.

"When you lose you get thousands of reasons why you lost," Rodriguez remembers. "Now, sometimes I sit in my apartment and think how I went to the labor unions and how I said I was going to get 15,000 votes."

He would run against Martinez again in 2003, finishing second with 25 percent of the vote. He skipped the 2005 election to focus on the issues closest to his heart, a new building for Gregorio Luperon.

"The fight to get a new building for Gregorio Luperon was very important for us," Rodriguez said. "I didn't have the human resources in place [to run for office]."

The campaign was successful and the new, state-of-the-art building opened in 2008 on W. 165th Street. Relocating the school within the community was a central issue in the fight.

When 2009 rolled around, Rodriguez had already prepared to run. Despite several jolts to the campaign – the 2008 term-limit extension that allowed Miguel Martinez to run again, the Council member's resignation and guilty plea to three felony counts of corruption in July, former City Council Member Guillermo Linares' abrupt entrance to and exit from the race – Rodriguez kept his focus.

"I was more dedicated on how to raise my resources and go after the votes," he said.

He knew he wouldn't need 15,000 votes, he said. The election would go to whoever could bring in 4,000 votes.

"It was a number we were looking at before the Council member resigned," Rodriguez said.

He had already raised $68,000 for the campaign and hired a political consultant, the Advance Group.

Rodriguez handedly won the Sept. 15 primary over his seven competitors, pulling in over 60 percent of the vote, 1,320 more ballots than his goal of 4,000.

According to the unofficial count, he won 95 percent of the Nov. 3 general election vote. Because Martinez resigned mid-term, Rodriguez will take office as soon as the vote is certified by the Board of Elections, getting a leg up on the other freshmen Council members.

An official swearing in ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 13 at the Armory Track and Field Center at W. 168th Street.

Issues close to his heart still revolve around education – particularly art and music programs for children under five.

"There are kids whose parents cannot afford it," he said. "It makes me think we have to bring these programs to the community."

Also high on his list is a vocational school for young adults who dropped out of high school, and working with business groups and churches to provide more community services.

Once in office he wants to reevaluate the programs still in effect from the previous Council member.

"I want to be sure any investments in our community are investments that are really accountable and play a major role in the improvement of our community," he said.

The two most important functions as Council member, he said, are bringing his district resources and results. They are goals he hopes to attain in partnership with the community.

"I've not come to do anything by myself. I have an open door policy," he said.

Until he takes office, however, he's going to spend quality time with his father, 85-year-old Hidanis Rodriguez.

Hidanis suffered a stroke the night of the primary, and remains in the hospital. But his spirits are high.

"He's just so happy. His whole world is: 'Oh you never give up,'" Rodriguez said, his eyes misting. "I have done nothing compared to him."

The biggest price of the campaign, he said, was being away from his family – Cristina Melendez, his girlfriend, and their 3-year-old, Yarisa Christina Rodriguez Melendez. It's something he will have to balance as a Council member.

But, he added, "My responsibility starts with my family."