‘Bronx girl’? AOC’s Yorktown High School yearbook photo and nickname spark debate

A resurfaced high school yearbook photo and a renewed push by a Republican legislator have once again brought into focus the controversy of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being a “Bronx girl.”

A resurfaced yearbook photo and a Republican lawmaker’s comments reignite scrutiny of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Bronx identity.(X/Matt Slater)

The image, shared by New York State Assemblyman Matt Slater, shows a young Ocasio-Cortez as a freshman at Yorktown High School in Westchester County.

“I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully,” she posted on X, after she clashed with President Donald Trump on social media over military action in Iran.

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“@AOC if you’re a BX girl, then why are you in my Yorktown yearbook? Give it up already,” Slater replied, suggesting that her “tough girl” Bronx image doesn’t align with her time in the suburbs.

Since her 2018 win over a long-time Democratic incumbent, her personal tale has been an easy target for her opponents.

Who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?

Ocasio-Cortez was born in Parkchester, a neighbourhood in the Bronx, to working-class parents: her mother, a house cleaner from Puerto Rico, and her father, a small business owner. When she was around five years old, her family moved to Yorktown in search of better schools. Ocasio-Cortez has said she spent her time in the Bronx with extended family and returned to Parkchester after college.

Fact-checking site Snopes investigated the renewed debate, digging up a 2018 version of her campaign website that described a “40-minute commute” between school and her family in the Bronx. The page didn’t mention her immediate family living in Yorktown, but didn’t deny it either.

Critics have pointed to the current value of her childhood home in Yorktow, over half a million dollars, not much of a working-class type, right?

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“I’m proud of how I grew up and talk about it all the time!” she wrote on X.

“My mom cleaned houses and I helped. We cleaned tutors’ homes in exchange for SAT prep. Growing up between the Bronx and Yorktown deeply shaped my views of inequality & it’s a big reason I believe the things I do today!”