Bx. pol flubs Puerto Rico status

ALBANY — A Bronx Democrat with congressional dreams may need a history lesson.

The “immigration” section of Assemblyman Michael Blake’s campaign website features a picture of the pol posing with several people waving Puerto Rican flags.

The only problem is Puerto

Rico has been a U.S. commonwealth since 1952, and its people are American citizens.

“Fighting to protect immigrants like his Jamaican parents by reforming ICE with a new, more humane agency and working to rebuild the infrastructure to prevent hate crimes from The Bronx to the border,” the caption reads. Blake (inset), donning an “El Bronx” T-shirt, smiles as a few dozen people proudly wave Puerto Rican flags crowd around him.

The photo appears to have been taken on Fifth Ave. during the annual Puerto

Rican Day Parade.

Blake, whose current Assembly district is heavily Latino, should know all people born in Puerto Rico on or after Jan. 13, 1941, are citizens of the United States. While the island is not a state, residents do not vote in presidential elections. If someone moves stateside, they can then cast a ballot for the presidential candidate of their choice.

The faux pas could spell trouble for a wannabe Washingtonian hoping to replace the country’s longest-serving Latino congressman.

Rep. Jose Serrano, who was born in Puerto Rico, has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1990. The 76-year-old decided not to seek reelection next year.

The Blake campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.