David Rivera is a 23-year-old Bronx native and he's been through any person of color's worst nightmare. Because of a 20-year-old mistake on his birth certificate, where his first name was wrongly listed "Male" the highschool graduate can't get a job or go to college. Rivera even fears being stopped & possibly arrested by the cops in the Throggs Neck Houses where he lives because he doesn't have proper ID. He can't get a proper ID from the DMV because of the conflict with his birth certificate even though his Social Security & Medicaid cards have his proper name. And he can't clear the matter up with hospital records because St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn where he was born has been closed down. Because of accusations that his relatives were abusing him David was bounced around group homes & foster care his entire childhood. He even spent time at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Residential Treatment Center in Westchester County as a teen where he got help getting his life on track. He got a summer job at the Bronx Zoo with the school's help and experienced no problems with his ID then. Rivera was oblivious to the matter until he graduated & tried to get a job on his own. The city Health Department forced his family to hire a lawyer who filed a petition to the Manhattan Supreme Court to have the document changed to read his real legal name. In the meantime David Rivera may be his real name but to the government is merely known as "Mr. X". I hope everything works out for this guy. Spotted at nypost.com.
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