Early primary results are in, and many city council candidates favored by the construction and real estate industries are winning.
Charles Barron, reportedly one of the cool guys in the industry, lost his re-election bid in eastern New York. unofficial results Published by the Municipal Election Commission. The clear winner, community organizer Chris Banks, ended a 20-year campaign between Barron and his wife, Inez Barron, a member of parliament, who fought in another The parliamentary seats were swapped back and forth for a limited period of time.
Banks has the support of the New York City Carpenters District Council, as well as a powerful coalition of labor that includes 32BJ SEIU, the Hospitality Industry Council, DC37, the New York State Nurses Association and the Communications Workers of America.Barron, who has long battled market-rate housing in his area, recently demanded and won Cancel all market price units From the Innovation City Village project.
“We’re dancing in the sun,” said Kevin Elkins, the political director of the Carpenters’ Union, noting that the union helped protect the incumbent while ousting Barron and paying new council member Kristin Richardson-Jordan pressure to drop out of the race in Harlem.
Central Park district political newcomer Yusef Salaam also unnerved Jordan. The Innocence Fivedefeating veteran Harlem politician and former council member Inez Dickens, who was backed by Mayor Eric Adams and councilor Al Taylor.
The pro-housing group Open New York backed Salam, citing his support for housing zoning reform and just cause evictions. Jordan dropped out of the race last month after it became clear the primary would be a referendum on her role in the repeal of One45. One45, a 917-unit apartment building, she criticized as unaffordable to voters. Developer Bruce Teitelbaum has since re-launched his proposal, which is likely to come before Salam next year.
“The vote is in: Adequate housing is good policy and good politics,” Open New York tweeted Wednesday.
City Council member Marjorie Velázquez appears to have kept her seat in the Bronx’s 13th Ward handy. Unions came out in support of Velázquez, who reversed course in favor of the Bruckner Avenue rezoning after a developer promised to hire union labor for construction and construction services.
Super PACs Related to Carpenters spend Advertisements in favor of Velázquez fetch at least $57,562.A trade union group dubbed “Labour’s Mighty Coalition” spend More than $100,000 went to an ad supporting her re-election.
It was unclear who Velázquez would face in the general election, with results showing Republican Christie Marmolato with a narrow lead over Jorge Hafranek. Given the success of Republican candidates in the district in recent years, it could be a close race: Curtis Sliwa beat Eric Adams in the 2021 election, by city and statedespite Velázquez defeating Republican candidate Aleksander Mici in that year’s parliamentary elections with 56 percent of the vote.
“Obviously, Marjorie is our number one priority in the general election,” Elkins said. He noted that the carpenters union is also eyeing the re-election bid of Bay Ridge Councilman Justin Brannan. Brannan will face Democratic-turned-Republican Congressman Ali Kagan in the general election.
In real estate losses, lower Manhattan incumbent Christopher Marte fended off challenges from moderate candidates Susan Lee and Ursila Jung. Li and Zheng tried to use ranked choice voting to remove Matt and agreed to make the other second choice, but Matt lost with more than 63 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results.
Marte has clashed with developers for years. He opposed the rezoning of Soho and Noho and signed a lawsuit challenging the development of the two bridges and four rental towers. He also backed a lawsuit to block senior housing on the site of Elizabeth Street Gardens. A state appeals court dismissed the case this week.
Lobbyist Jeffrey Leb, who raised millions from the real estate industry in previous campaigns, spent more than $400,000 on primary campaign ads through his super PAC. Several industry professionals donated to his Future New York entity, including the Laboz family, which runs United Land Corp., Abro Management’s Richard Scharf, Rosewood Realty Group’s Aaron Jungreis and developer Joseph Cayre, according to campaign finance records.
Leib’s political action committee has backed nine candidates, including incumbent Linda Lee, who appears to have won the race in eastern Queens, and Velazquez and Kalman Yeager. Yeger, whose constituency includes parts of Boro Park, Gravesend and Midwood.Yeager leads unopposed Democratic primary Hershey Carpenter Narrowly won the Republican primary.
Because of ranked-choice voting, some results from the primaries may not be available for some time.
