THE THAT
Life stopped, but on June 23, democracy, uh, finds a way
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May 25, 2020
FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT ON NY AMID CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC MAY 28, 2020 - 2:00-3:00PM EST COVID-19 has brought major changes to New York’s financial services industry as well as its broader economy. Jobs are being lost at a record pace, and the ripple effects include a loss of tax revenue that may lead to cuts in police, education and health care. What can be done to help the people, the small businesses and the city and state itself? Join the below panelists to discuss.
PA N E LI STS I N C LU D E
SCOTT M. STRINGER New York City Comptroller
LINDA A. LACEWELL Superintendent, NYS Department of Financial Services
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May 25, 2020
City & State New York
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EDITOR’S NOTE
JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC has upset the routines and rhythms of the entire country. Although states are starting to reopen, millions of Americans are still spending much of their days cooped up inside. Many people are working from home, and a growing number of employers are planning to keep their offices closed indefinitely. And with the economy plummeting to lows not seen since the Great Depression, many Americans have lost their jobs – while elected officials are scrambling to figure out the best ways to respond. Given this new reality, it’s understandable that the upcoming elections have become an afterthought. In New York, the campaign issue that has gotten the most coverage lately is the legal battle over whether or not to hold the state’s Democratic presidential primary, which is now officially on. But while that contest is moot, given that Joe Biden is the only candidate actively campaigning, there are plenty of pivotal primary races coming up in June that merit more scrutiny. In this week’s magazine, City & State’s Jeff Coltin takes an in-depth look at two House seats that are up for grabs for the first time in a long time thanks to the retirements of the South Bronx’s José E. Serrano and the Lower Hudson Valley’s Nita Lowey. Plus, we have a comprehensive rundown of the state of play in all 27 New York congressional districts.
CONTENTS NY-17 … 8
Could the Hudson Valley send an IDC’er to DC?
NY-15 … 12 Does the South Bronx care if you live in the district? CONGRESSIONAL RACES … 17
A guide to this year’s election.
WINNERS & LOSERS … 30
CELESTE SLOMAN; LÓPEZ FOR THE PEOPLE
Who was up and who was down last week
Democratic socialist Samelys López is one of the many contenders for the congressional seat in the South Bronx – and one of the few who actually live in the district.
CityAndStateNY.com
THE SHIFTING REOPENING METRICS
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that two more upstate areas can enter the first phase of reopening: Western New York and the Capital Region. However, those reopenings were only possible because of the amended criteria that Cuomo established for deaths and new hospitalizations. A region can reopen if it has a 14day sustained decline in
May 25, 2020
total net hospitalizations and deaths based on three-day rolling averages. Originally, alternative metrics also allowed a region to reopen if it never had more than 15 new hospitalizations or more than 5 deaths based on three-day averages since the beginning of the outbreak. That language still exists on the governor’s website explaining the reopening metrics. However, Cuomo announced a change to the alternative metrics. Rather than measuring
from the start of the pandemic, the state now measures from May 15, the first day other parts of the state began reopening. Western New York, for example, should have been a least a week away from reopening when it did, but thanks to the new metrics, Cuomo announced it entered the first phase on May 19. The Capital Region was in a similar boat. Because the area didn’t see immediate spikes in hospitalizations or deaths after May 15, it was permitted to reopen after recruiting enough contact tracers.
NEW YORK’S BEACH BOONDOGGLE
New York City residents hoping to hit the beach for Memorial Day weekend had their hopes squashed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Long Island officials. After de Blasio announced city beaches would be closed to swimming, officials on Long Island floated the possibility of restricting the island’s beaches
LIFE’S A BEACH Summer is upon us, and with temperatures rising and quarantine fatigue intensifying, New Yorkers are ready to hit the beach. But swimming is forbidden at New York City beaches, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, even while criticizing Nassau County for banning city residents from visiting theirs. The Post lampooned de Blasio’s hypocrisy in their cover, featuring the swimsuit-clad mayor standing firm on canceling the coast.
“We may all be in the same storm, but we’re not all in the same boat.” – New York City Councilwoman Inez Barron, whose Brooklyn district has the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in the city, on racial and economic disparities amid the coronavirus pandemic, via The New York Times
to residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties to prevent overcrowding from city interlopers. Initially, de Blasio said that city residents should be allowed on Long Island beaches, adding that there should not be “any ill feeling toward someone depending on where they come from.” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said she spoke with the mayor and understood his rationale, suggesting a compromise was in the works. But soon after, she announced she would sign legislation restricting access to Nickerson Beach to county residents only. Earlier, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone had announced his intention to do the same for his county’s beaches.
CUOMO DEFENDS NURSING HOME POLICIES
“If I carry a surfboard, can I go in the water even if I don’t know how to surf?” – New York City Councilman Justin Brannan, questioning NYPD guidelines that say swimmers are not allowed in the water at city beaches, but surfers are, via the New York Post
Amid growing scrutiny over the state’s policy of sending recovering coronavirus patients to nursing homes, Cuomo continued to defend his administration’s actions. Responding to criticisms of his March 25 directive, Cuomo placed the blame on President Donald Trump’s administration, saying he was just following federal guidelines. He earlier said the state didn’t do anything wrong, and the high number of deaths – nearing 6,000 at nursing homes in New York – is
SOPOTNICKI/SHUTTERSTOCK; JOHN MCCARTEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; ASSEMBLY
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at least partly attributable to bad luck. The state Department of Health did not change its rules for nursing homes until earlier this month, stating that homes could not accept any residents who had tested positive. The March 25 order has been removed from the Department of Health website, according to The New York Times.
DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS KICKED OFF THE BALLOT
Two Democratic assemblywomen will no longer appear on the June primary ballot after the state’s top court ruled that petitioning errors made them ineligible. Three-term Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, below, was kicked off the ballot because she failed to include a cover letter when she filed her paperwork. Although a midlevel court decided to keep her on the ballot, offering Seawright a glimmer of hope, the state Court of Appeals reversed that decision.
THE
WEEK AHEAD
City & State New York
Why arrests plummeted across NY
The Court of Appeals also removed Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo for a slightly more insidious reason. The 26-year incumbent had backdated a large number of petitions, which amounted to fraud. The decision opens the door to her insurgent primary opponent Amanda Septimo, who is backed by the Working Families Party.
RACIAL AND ECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN COVID-19 DEATHS
New data released by New York City painted in sharp contrast the racial and economic disparities in coronavirus deaths. Lowincome communities that are largely black and Latino have borne the brunt of the harm from the pandemic. The Brooklyn communities of Starrett City and East New York had the highest death rates, while the Bronx was the hardest-hit borough overall. Most of the areas with the lowest death rates were in wealthy Manhattan neighborhoods with mostly white residents.
TUESDAY 5/26 School is out, but class is in session as City & State hosts a 2 p.m. webinar on the state of the education system during the coronavirus pandemic with state Education Chancellor Betty Rosa and other experts.
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Arrests were down by double digits in every county of New York during March and the first half of April – by more than two-thirds in some areas. And the reason seems obvious: Most people were staying home, so there were fewer opportunities for crime to happen. Members of law enforcement said in a series of interviews that self-isolation was the biggest driver of the drop in crime, but not the only reason arrests were down this year. It’s a combination of things, said Albany County District Attorney David Soares, whose county saw a third of the arrests this year during March and the first half of April as it did last year. For one, it’s likely that lower-level offenses aren’t a priority for law enforcement right now, Soares said. That doesn’t mean they’re not happening, it just means members of law enforcement have other things to worry about. “I think law enforcement, in an effort to flatten the curve, is certainly using greater restraints in terms of what they exercise discretion over and what they don’t,” Soares said. “I don’t think we’re seeing a lot of petty offenses, quality of life offenses, being charged right now because people are really prioritizing the threats to public safety.” Officers have recognized that the more they come in contact with the public, the more likely they are to catch the coronavirus. That increases their chance of spreading the disease, knowingly or not. In Washington County, Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said he has gone as far as telling his deputies to avoid interacting with the public unless they absolutely have to. “My instruction to our deputies was that minor offenses, traffic issues, things like that, I’m not concerned with numbers and not concerned with arrest or tickets or anything like that,” Murphy said. “I’m concerned with keeping our employees safe and healthy.”
TUESDAY 5/26 A skeletal crew of lawmakers is returning to the Capitol as the state Senate gets ready to meet remotely for the first time since April. The chamber is expected to approve a package of bills related to the pandemic.
INSIDE DOPE
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said a series of criminal justice laws that went into effect in January – revising criminal discovery deadlines and the use of cash bail – have given members of law enforcement more to do, but not more time to do it. That means local law enforcement agencies, and the prosecutors who bring their cases, were spread more thin this year than last, and that’s likely contributed to a drop in arrests, Hoovler said. He doubles as the current president of the District Attorneys Association of New York. “The criminal justice reforms in January caused a slight dip,” Hoovler said. “I think that as a result of those reforms and the added workload, a lot of prosecutors decided that certain crimes, they weren’t going to necessarily prosecute as much as they did in the past.” Prosecutors have also, since January, had to comply with new laws surrounding a defendant’s right to a speedy trial. That law essentially requires judges to confirm when a prosecutor is ready for trial. Some prosecutors have been accused of saying they’re ready for trial before they really are, which can disrupt the speedy trial clock. The new criminal justice laws changed how some defendants enter the criminal justice system as well. Those accused of lower-level crimes are now often given desk appearance tickets, rather than arrested. That means they wouldn’t show up in the state’s count of arrests, prosecutors said. “It’s going to be very different, the way that we measure,” Soares said. “In other words, in 2020 it’s an entirely different series of comparisons because the process by which people get into the system changed so much.”
It remains unknown whether the Assembly will also reconvene. If it does, it would mean that the Legislature is getting back just in time to challenge the governor on possible state budget cuts.
-Dan Clark, host of “New York Now” on PBS
WEDNESDAY 5/27 The New York City Council Committee on Education hosts an 11 a.m. remote oversight hearing on remote learning and the impact of the coronavirus on city schools.
WHAT
CityAndStateNY.com
May 25, 2020
VIRUS? POLITICAL LEADERS WHO DOWNPLAYED THE COVID-19 THREAT BY JON LENTZ POLITICIANS TEND to be optimists by nature. But in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, many of them were too optimistic – and too confident in their assertions that
If you’re under 50 and you’re healthy, which is most New Yorkers, there’s very little threat here. This disease, even if you were to get it, basically acts like a common cold or flu. – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, on March 10
In powerful show of defiance of #coronavirus scare, huge crowds gathering in NYC’s Chinatown for ceremony ahead of annual #LunarNewYear parade. Chants of ‘be strong Wuhan!’ If you are staying away, you are missing out! – New York City Councilman Mark Levine, on Feb. 9
It looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away – I hope that’s true. – President Donald Trump, on Feb. 10
the risk from the virus would be minimal. Here are some noteworthy statements by New York officials that were dubious or disputed – or turned out to be just plain wrong.
We have the best health care system on the planet right here in New York. So, when you’re saying, what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries.
INKED PIXELS, LEV RADIN, A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; EMIL COHEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; KEVIN P. COUGHLIN/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR; DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; HEALTH + HOSPITALS
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– Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on March 2
We’re telling New Yorkers, go about your lives, take the subway, go out, enjoy life. – New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot, on Feb. 7
We have to accept that unless a vaccine is rapidly developed, large numbers of people will get infected. The good thing is greater than 99 percent will recover without harm. Once people recover they will have immunity. The immunity will protect the herd. – Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, on March 10
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City & State New York
When you have a hole in your budget … parks, libraries, cultural affairs, we just cut the shit out of those.
A Q&A with former New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner
ADRIAN BENEPE You’ve said that New York City keeping its pools closed is all about finances, and it doesn’t have anything to do with health? I mean they’ve got the veneer of health on it. They’re saying, “We can’t possibly operate pools under these conditions.”
one half of one penny in the city’s budget – and that’s $500 million. So the $12 million is a tiny fraction of one-tenth of a penny. It’s nothing. It’s not even a rounding error. You couldn’t see it. The city’s budget is going to be somewhere near $90 billion.
But does the city government even need to consult with health experts if the fiscal reality is that it’s going to be too expensive? The total savings from running the pools in the fiscal year ’21 is $12 million. It’s not pennies, because it’s not even a penny. The Parks Department fullyear budget is less than
Is there an ulterior motive from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration? Is it about the appearance of safety? The reality is there’s a huge budget hole. And when you have a hole in your budget, you keep the so-called essential services – police, fire, sanitation, sewer and
water, stuff like that – and the unessential services – parks, libraries, cultural affairs – we just cut the shit out of those. So that’s what they’re doing here. With pools, you can lock them up or not fill them with water. But how do you keep people away from beaches? So that’s the thing. The thing about this $12 million, it’s a mirage, it’s a fantasy, because in the first week or two of not having beaches open with lifeguards, they will spend that money on police overtime keeping people out of the water. Because the police overtime budget hemorrhages money. But New York City, in
addition to the 17 miles of public beaches, has 526 miles of waterfront. New York City is a city of islands surrounded by dangerous water. And it’s not just that we’re going to have to keep people out of water on the beaches. They’re going to have to keep people out of the water along 526 miles of shoreline. You were the parks commissioner during the Great Recession. Did you face similar budget questions? I would say there are certain things that are sacrosanct, and opening the beaches and pools is sacrosanct. Every year there would be a budget
Our Perspective The New Reality of Reopening Retail Stores By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW Twitter: @sappelbaum
TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
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s the Empire State takes its first tentative steps toward reopening the economy, nothing is more important than ensuring we do it the right way. Part of this process will be the reopening of retail stores, most of which have been shuttered since March. And the single most important condition of reopening retail is ensuring the safety of employees and customers. Our union knows all too well that this is a matter of life or death. Across the country, the RWDSU has lost dozens of members to the Coronavirus scourge, and countless RWDSU families know the anguish of losing loved ones to the COVID-19 disease. Tens of thousands of RWDSU members will be putting their lives on the line when the economy and retail stores further reopen, along with countless other working Americans. With thousands of RWDSU members employed at retail chains including Macy’s, Zara, Bloomingdales, and H&M, we couldn’t be more concerned. We only have one chance to get this right; getting it wrong – with
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potentially fatal consequences to our families and communities – cannot be an option. It all starts with wearing masks, which is probably the most important thing we can do to protect people along with social distancing. All employees, management, and customers should be provided masks as they enter the store and they must be required to use them when they are in the store. Consistent mask usage helps prevent transmission of the virus, and it is a crucial component of any responsible reopening plan. Employers need to commit to enforcing social distancing between employees, and employees and customers. Plexiglass partitions need to be constructed at all registers, and temperature testing needs to be provided to all employees at the employee entrance when they begin their shifts to prevent sick workers from entering the facility. Employees need to be given more breaks so they can wash their hands, and they need to be provided with sanitizer and gloves.
dance where we used to bluff and say, “OK, we’ll close the pools.” And they knew we weren’t going to do that. And we’d get the money restored. How can New Yorkers keep cool? It’s a three-legged stool. It’s the beaches, pools, and the third – and perhaps the most important in some ways – is spray showers in playgrounds. There’s 1,000 playgrounds under the Parks Department jurisdiction (and) I think 700 of them contain spray showers. Every single playground is closed and locked. And that’s the first line of defense when it’s really hot. And you can also turn them on instantly.
Employers also must make an unprecedented commitment to cleaning and disinfecting their stores, cleaning all break rooms and restrooms on a regular basis through-out the day. All employee areas need to be properly supplied with paper towels and hand sanitizer. The same type of protocol needs to be used for any equipment employees use, including registers. And, all interactions between customers and employees need to be adjusted to ensure safety. Gone are the days when employees would pass a customer a phone to talk to credit card employees. Stores need to be deep cleaned and disinfected at the end of the day, and air circulation or air conditioning systems need to have proper filters sufficient to clean the air from contaminates. Filters must be cleaned every day. We all want to see New York’s economy moving again, and we want RWDSU members to be able to return to their jobs safely. This means a real commitment from employers to doing this the right way. We’ve made some progress in New York in the fight against COVID-19; it’s proof that a scientific, healthdriven approach can work during these uncertain times. If we are going to open our stores, we need to continue to embrace this approach, and keep workers and customers safe, protected, and secure.
www.rwdsu.org
IDC CityAndStateNY.com
David Carlucci helped Republicans stay in power for years. Now he’s the front-runner to replace Rep. Nita Lowey in Congress.
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DC?
EW YORK’S DEMOCRATIC primary in 2018 was a bloodbath for the former members of the Independent Democratic Conference. Six of the eight ex-IDC members lost their primaries to challengers, after their group had drawn the ire of loyal Democrats for maintaining a power-sharing agreement with state Senate Republicans that kept the GOP in power. While the progressive groups that helped unseat them still reminisce about the great victory, the two remaining former IDC members, state Sens. Diane Savino and David Carlucci, have actually thrived while conferencing with the Democrats, who are now in the majority. Carlucci has even been one of the Senate’s most productive lawmakers since escaping defeat by librarian Julie Goldberg in the 2018 primary, with 54% of the vote to her 46%.
by J E F F C O L T I N
Now Carlucci is running for Congress in the Lower Hudson Valley. And the man who just two years ago was part of the most hated group in Democratic politics may actually be in a good position to win his party’s nomination – unless one of the motley crew of national security insiders, a bookish public servant, a gay progressive and the son of a pharmaceutical billionaire can stop him. The Democratic primary is crowded, with eight candidates on the ballot. That’s because New York’s 17th Congressional District, which covers much of New York City’s northern suburbs including all of Rockland County and most of Westchester County, is an open seat for the first time since 1984. While it’s a relatively moderate, affluent district filled with homeowners, the district is safely Democratic. Hillary Clinton, a resident of the district, beat Donald Trump by 20 points
there in 2016. So the stakes are highest in the primary. Currently, the area is represented by Rep. Nita Lowey, the powerful chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, who decided to retire and not seek reelection. Carlucci, Assemblyman David Buchwald and Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker are hoping to continue their careers as elected officials by filling the opening. Also running are Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant U.S. secretary of defense, and Asha Castleberry, a foreign policy adviser and major in the Army Reserve. Adam Schleifer, a former federal prosecutor and heir to a biotech fortune, and Allison Fine, the former board chairwoman of the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, are both on the ballot. And former litigator Mondaire Jones has been
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State Sen. David Carlucci was a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, a breakaway group that allowed Republicans to maintain power in the state Senate.
running longer than any of them, since he initially planned to challenge Lowey before she announced her retirement. The field to replace Lowey, who is Jewish, is diverse. The district is 63% non-Hispanic white and more than 21% of residents are Jewish – making it the fourth-most Jewish district in the country. Buchwald, Carlucci, Fine and Schleifer are Jewish, and Carlucci has worked hard to build ties with the significant Hasidic Jewish population in Rockland County. Half the candidates are women. About 10% of the district’s residents are black, as are both Castleberry and Jones. If elected, Jones would be the first openly gay African American member of Congress. With a month to go until the June 23 election, Carlucci seems to be in a good position to win. He has represented much of the district in the state Senate since 2011, getting reelected four times. With a Sen-
ate district more than twice as large as Buchwald’s Assembly district, and a tenure two years longer, Carlucci is the closest thing to an incumbent in the congressional race. And in this primary, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, experts expect incumbency to be even more of a benefit than usual because insurgent campaigns can’t rely on door-knocking or flyering to get their name out. Sure enough, internal polls from two campaigns shared anonymously with City & State show Carlucci leading the rest of the field – a top spot he’s maintained since the beginning of the race. These partial poll results were shared on the condition of anonymity to avoid revealing campaign strategy. New York’s Fair Campaign Code, which requires campaigns to disclose extensive information about private polls if they’re shared publicly, does not apply to federal races.
The most recent poll, conducted May 1314, showed that the largest share of voters are still undecided, but Schleifer was close behind Carlucci, within the poll’s margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. Jones and Buchwald were behind, tied for third – a significant change from earlier in the year when Schleifer’s name barely registered in poll results, and before he started running TV ads. But with Carlucci seeming to be in the top spot, opponents are eager to point out his weaknesses. Electing a former member of the IDC “would be a huge scandal,” Jones said in an interview with City & State. “I have spoken to many members of Congress – including members of the New York delegation – who loathe the idea of having to serve alongside an IDC member.” Jones wouldn’t share any specific names, but would say that Carlucci’s former membership in the IDC is a part of his
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CityAndStateNY.com
May 25, 2020
THE CONTROVERSIAL state Senate Independent Democratic Conference formed in 2011 and officially disbanded in 2018. Months later, most of its remaining members lost their reelection bids in the Democratic primary, thanks to backlash for their scheme with Republicans to keep Senate Democrats out of power. But state Sen. David Carlucci managed to win reelection and is now aiming even higher, hoping to fill retiring Rep. Nita Lowey’s open congressional seat in the Lower Hudson Valley. Here’s where the former IDC members are now, two years after the conference kissed and made up with the mainline state Senate Democrats.
DAVID VALESKY: The former state senator from Syracuse is still in government, serving as deputy commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.
JEFF KLEIN: The Bronx-based leader and founder of the Independent Democratic Conference is now a lobbyist at Mercury Public Affairs. When he left office, he was barred from lobbying state lawmakers for two years.
JESSE HAMILTON: The former Brooklyn lawmaker is trying to make it back to Albany, challenging Assemblywoman Diana Richardson in the 2020 Democratic primary.
DIANE SAVINO: The lawmaker representing parts of Staten Island and southern Brooklyn won reelection in 2018 and is expected to be reelected again this year. DAVID CARLUCCI: The Rockland County lawmaker is declining to run for reelection, and is running for Congress instead.
MALCOLM SMITH: Smith lost reelection in Queens in 2014 and was convicted on federal corruption charges in 2015 for trying to bribe his way onto the New York City mayoral ballot. He’s imprisoned in Pennsylvania and scheduled to be released in 2021. TONY AVELLA: The longtime lawmaker is fundraising for a run for his old City Council seat in northeastern Queens, which will be open in 2021.
MARISOL ALCANTARA: The upper Manhattan resident is back with her former employer, serving as the New York State Nurses Association’s area director for the Lower Hudson Valley. JOSE PERALTA: The former Queens lawmaker died at age 47 from leukemia while still in office in November 2018.
fundraising pitch. And framing Carlucci as a turncoat Democrat is helping. “Donors who otherwise might not get involved in a Democratic primary, because they prefer to save their money for a general election, are spurred to action when I tell them that there is a real risk that this seat will be represented by someone who cannot even be trusted to caucus with other Democrats in Washington,” Jones said. Schleifer, too, is questioning Carlucci’s loyalty to the party. “He couldn’t stand up to Republicans in Albany,” Schleifer said. “So how anyone can trust him to go down to D.C. and stand up to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump would be beyond me.”
It’s all reminiscent of the anti-IDC campaign that ousted six state senators with hashtags of #FakeDemocrats. But to Carlucci, that’s old news. “That issue was really settled in that last primary,” Carlucci told City & State. That’s probably wishful thinking, since in 2018 46% of Democratic voters in his own district went for his first-time opponent. Carlucci conceded the issue wasn’t behind him with everybody. “I’m sure there’s people that will still be holding that against me. However, that’s what elections are about,” he said, before enumerating his lengthy “record of results.” Two years won’t be enough to put the
controversy behind him, especially when many Democratic voters felt so offended by the IDC aligning with Republicans, said Jeff Binder, a Westchester County-based political consultant who has worked with both Democrats and Republicans, but isn’t involved in this race. “There’s a lot of long memories in regards to some of the things he did in the name of heightening his own political power.” In his last Senate primary, Carlucci’s 2,000-vote margin of victory came largely thanks to his strong support in the larger Rockland County side of the Senate district, where Carlucci was raised and still lives. The smaller Westchester portion of his district voted solidly for his opponent, Goldberg, 69%-31%. That could be a serious concern for Carlucci this year, especially when so much more of the congressional district lies on the east side of the Hudson River, in Westchester. Lowey didn’t face a primary in 2018, but in the general election, 60% of the total votes were cast in Westchester, and 40% in Rockland. “The center of gravity, electorally, for this congressional district, is not Rockland County,” Binder said. “He’s got geography working against him.” That could be true too for Jones, who also lives in Rockland County. The other six candidates in the race all live on the other side of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, in Westchester. Of course, Carlucci sees this crowding as an advantage, thinking that Westchester’s votes may be split up among its many local candidates. One of those Westchesterites, Buchwald, has been consolidating support from the county’s political establishment, including fellow Assembly members Amy Paulin and Gary Pretlow and a long list of town and village Democratic commit-
MONDAIRE FOR CONGRESS; GABRIELLA DEMCZUK/NEW AMERICA
WHERE ARE THE IDC MEMBERS NOW?
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City & State New York
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Mondaire Jones, left, speaking, has support from high-profile progressives like Elizabeth Warren and the Working Families Party. Evelyn Farkas has support from John Kerry and other fellow former members of the Obama administration.
tees. On top of that, he has won support from state Sen. James Skoufis, whose district borders Carlucci’s, and high-profile unions including the New York State Nurses Association and 32BJ SEIU, which represents janitors. Buchwald’s endorsement list is in stark contrast to Carlucci’s, which only includes a few smaller unions at this point, and no elected officials. It’s not even enough for an “endorsements” tab on his campaign website. But both Davids’ endorsement lists lack the political star power of Jones’ and Farkas’. Just pick your wing of the party: progressive or establishment. Jones, running on Medicare for All, is positioning himself as the most left-leaning candidate, and it has earned him support from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, both of Massachusetts, and the Working Families Party. Farkas has been calling on her list of contacts made over her years as a foreign policy adviser in Washington, D.C. She is backed by former Secretary of State John Kerry, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Denis McDonough, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama.
That’s a lot of out-of-state support for Jones and Farkas, but at this point, all the candidates’ in-state support is somewhat limited. Lowey hasn’t endorsed a successor, and isn’t expected to do so before the primary. And, whether they’re following her lead or they are just nervous to stake a claim in a crowded primary, no other current members of New York’s congressional delegation have endorsed yet either. With a median household income of nearly $92,000, the 17th Congressional District is one of the highest earning in the country. That’s reflected in the candidates’ fundraising. Through the last filing deadline on March 31, the candidates had raised a combined total of more than $5.5 million – good enough for the second-most in the state after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary race. Almost half that total has come in from Schleifer, who brought in more than $2.3 million in less than four months. However, $1.9 million of his total is personal loans and contributions to his campaign. Schleifer is a former assistant U.S. attorney, but he’s also the son of Leonard Schleifer, the billionaire CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The younger Schleifer, 38, filed a
“THERE’S A LOT OF LONG MEMORIES IN REGARDS TO SOME OF THE THINGS (CARLUCCI) DID IN THE NAME OF HEIGHTENING HIS OWN POLITICAL POWER.”
– Jeff Binder, Westchester County political consultant
financial disclosure report that suggests he has a net worth of between $31.3 million and $72.8 million, including at least $25 million in Regeneron stock. That money has allowed Schleifer to blanket the airwaves with TV and digital ads, raising his name recognition in the district in a manner reminiscent of billionaire Tom Steyer’s presidential campaign. Schleifer’s big money has made him an easy target for his opponents – Jones called him “ a dangerous candidate” for trying to win with his “purchasing power” – but he’s quick to remind you that money alone doesn’t win elections. For every Mayor Michael Bloomberg, there are a lot of not-Mayor John Catsimatidises. Schleifer also noted that his private fundraising is keeping pace with his rivals – which is true, to a point. Schleifer has raised more than $400,000 from other people, which is less than Farkas’ $925,000, Jones $831,000 and Buchwald’s $634,000. But it is significantly more than Carlucci’s $277,000 – a relatively anemic total that puts the senator in sixth place in the fundraising game. It may not be a lot, Carlucci explained, but his money is coming from local voters. “Real people,” he said, “that can actually participate in the election.” Sure enough, data from the campaign finance watchdog website Open Secrets shows that Carlucci is the only candidate in the race to have more than half of his reported contributions come from within the district. In fact, he has raised the most money overall from district residents, despite his relatively low total contributions. That local focus helped Carlucci save his seat in 2018. In a race that got statewide and even national attention, he knew he only had to win voters in his district. Now he’ll find out if the same strategy can take him to Washington.
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CityAndStateNY.com
May 25, 2020
In the crowded race for the South Bronx, only a few candidates live in the district. Does it matter?
S
OME CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS in New York are awkwardly shaped. Rep. Jerry Nadler’s district paints a wide line down the west side of Manhattan before hopping across the harbor, hugging the thinnest shred of coast and growing again to a big splotch of southern Brooklyn. Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s district may as well be a subway line, stretching from southern Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan, North Brooklyn and out to Central Queens. And those are nothing compared to some of the gerrymandered monstrosities in states such as Maryland. But New York City also has at least one straightforwardly defined district: the 15th Congressional District, wholly encompassing the area known as the South Bronx, from Hunts Point to Yankee Stadium, up to Fordham Road and the Bronx Zoo. Geographically coherent and densely populated, it’s the second-smallest district by area in the whole country. Now this South Bronx community is going to get a new representative in Washington for the first time in 30 years. Rep. José E. Serrano, who has been in office since 1990, decided not to seek reelection because of his worsening Parkinson’s disease. While the 76-year-old Serrano had slowed down in recent years, he was in many ways an embodiment of the South Bronx. It’s the district in New York with the highest Hispanic population, 65%, and Serrano is a native Span-
ish speaker, born in Puerto Rico. It’s the poorest congressional district in the nation, and Serrano grew up in Bronx public housing. It may be the most deeply Democratic district in the country, where 94% of voters supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Serrano is among the most liberal representatives and among the least likely to work across the aisle. He lives on the Grand Concourse, in the heart of the district. The last one may seem obvious, but living in the district isn’t a given among the 12 Democrats who are running to fill the seat in the June 23 Democratic primary. Among the top contenders, only Assemblyman Michael Blake and housing activist Samelys López have lived in the district for more than a year. Both New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito live in Manhattan. New York City Councilman Rubén Díaz Sr. lives just a few blocks outside the district. His council colleague Ritchie Torres used to live elsewhere in the Bronx, but moved into the district last year. But residency is just one factor of dozens that voters can consider when picking their next champion. What’s their ethnicity? Do their politics align with mine? Are they religious? As the primary approaches and some Bronxites make the argument that the conservative Rev. Díaz doesn’t represent the district’s values, the race’s most salient question has become who, if anyone, does?
STEVE SANCHEZ PHOTOS, A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; WILLIAM ALATRISTE/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; LÓPEZ FOR THE PEOPLE
by J E F F C O L T I N
May 18, 2020
City & State New York
Activists worry socially conservative City Councilman Rubén Díaz Sr. could win if liberals like Michael Blake, Ydanis Rodriguez and Samelys López split the vote.
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May 25, 2020
City & State asked some of the leading candidates directly, “What makes you, personally, the best one to represent the district and its people?” Their responses revealed a lot about their strategy. Torres, an Afro-Latino Bronx native with roots in Puerto Rico, started his answer with a practiced line: “I’m born, bred and battle-tested in the Bronx,” he said. “The struggles of the Bronx are hardly an abstraction to me.”
Blake, a black man whose parents immigrated from Jamaica, emphasized that he was raised in the district, even mentioning his childhood street corner in the neighborhood of Fordham Heights. “I believe in The Bronx because I’m living proof of what happens when The Bronx believes in a kid from Creston and Burnside,” he wrote in a statement emailed to City & State. López, who was born in Puerto Rico but raised in the Bronx, painted the district as a sanctuary. “The South Bronx gave my family a refuge after three years in a New York City shelter and welcomed us into its beautiful community,” she wrote. “The South Bronx saved my life and there’s nothing I won’t do to save my home.” Unlike some of their leading opponents, those three candidates live in the district, and made sure to emphasize it. But insiders weren’t so sure that residency matters much in this race. “It’s extraordinarily important to folks that are in that district that the person who is chosen to represent them really shares a real sense and real understanding of their lives,” said Debralee Santos, editor of the Bronx Free Press, a weekly newspaper that
“(THE SOUTH BRONX) IS CONSTANTLY BEING REINVENTED BY IMMIGRATION. ... I DOUBT IF HALF OF THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE DISTRICT WERE THERE 30 YEARS AGO.”
publishes in both English and Spanish. But actually living within the borders of the district? Santos said she doesn’t think it would be a problem, since these particular outsiders live close by, and understand the voters’ culture. Other districts may take issue with carpetbaggers, she said, but, “I don’t know that would necessarily be determinative here.” The South Bronx “is constantly being reinvented by immigration,” said Fordham University professor Mark Naison, founder of the Bronx African American History Project. He cited the district’s growing Mexican, Dominican and West African populations. “Because so many people who now live in the district are relative newcomers, I don’t think it matters much if people from slightly outside the district are running to represent it,” he said. “There is so much population movement occurring, I doubt if half of the people living in the district were there 30 years ago.” Mark-Viverito, Rodriguez and Díaz sure hope that’s the case. Mark-Viverito lives about a mile outside the district, in East Harlem, but her old City Council district used to include part of the South Bronx. The Puerto Rico-born Mark-Viverito made an explicitly ethnic case for her candidacy. “Being bilingual and a proud Boricua has given me the opportunity to communicate effectively with constituents and relate to their needs,” she wrote.
JOHN MCCARTEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
New York City Councilman and Democratic rising star Ritchie Torres is a Bronx native, but only moved to the district in the past year. Openly gay, he argues that Díaz’s anti-abortion, anti-gay politics don’t reflect the district’s values.
May 25, 2020
Rodriguez, too, lives outside the district, in Inwood, and his council district only includes upper Manhattan. He didn’t respond to a request for comment, but he also made a language-based argument in a May debate hosted by Gotham Gazette. “Hoy, most of the people living in the 15th Congressional District, they have Spanish as their first language,” said Rodriguez, who was born in the Dominican Republic. “I was born and raised speaking Spanish and connecting with my brothers and sisters from the African American, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds.” Díaz did not respond to City & State’s request for comment, but few question his Bronx credentials. He lives just blocks outside the district, in the Parkchester housing development, and the church he pastors, Iglesia Cristiana Comunidad, is within the district. The state Senate district he used to represent and the City Council district he represents now are almost entirely contained within the congressional district boundaries. So Díaz’s critics are making a different argument, saying the Democrat’s socially conservative, anti-abortion, anti-gay politics don’t represent the district’s views. Torres, who is openly gay, has made the case most clearly. “There’s a cruel irony that a Trump Republican could represent the most Democratic district in America,” he told Newsweek this month. Some Democrats have worried for a year that the wealth of candidates with more mainstream Democratic views would split the vote, allowing Díaz to win with a relatively small share of the vote. With just weeks until mail-in ballots reach voters, Torres describes Díaz as the front-runner. Since Torres joined the race, he has presented himself as the candidate that liberal voters should rally behind to beat the powerful Díaz – but with 10 other challengers, he wasn’t exactly successful in clearing the field, despite amassing an impressive war chest. Some of those opposing candidates have criticized Torres’ eye-popping fundraising totals because he’s taken money from real estate developers and controversial figures like hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb. While Torres has championed tenants’ rights in the City Council, he has never shied away from taking donations from the real estate industry – and he told City & State that raising big money is the only way to beat Díaz. “If you have less name recognition than the reverend and you have less resources than the reverend, how do you expect to beat him?” he asked. “That would be a neat magic trick.” As of March 31, Torres had $929,000 on hand. That’s over seven times more than the next leading candidate, Díaz, who had $125,000 in his campaign account. Blake was in third, with $77,000,
City & State New York
NEW IN TOWN Moving to a new area to run for office is a long tradition in American politics, dating at least as far back as the Reconstruction era, when the term “carpetbagger” was coined. The practice certainly hasn’t faded away in New York. For example, over the course of several recent election cycles, political activist Sean Eldridge, Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout and attorney Antonio Delgado all moved to the same Hudson Valley district to run for Congress – and only Delgado succeeded. The 2020 elections have a crop of carpetbaggers too.
MICHELLE CARUSO-CABRERA This challenger to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez likes to tell people that AOC grew up in Westchester County, not the Bronx. But until late 2019 Michelle Caruso-Cabrera had never lived in Queens or the Bronx, the two counties in the district. Originally from New Hampshire, Caruso-Cabrera lived in Manhattan for 20 years before transplanting to Sunnyside, Queens, shortly before announcing her candidacy. She’s also seeking to run as a Democrat despite being a former Republican.
PAPERBOY LOVE PRINCE The rapper and subway performer turned congressional candidate Paperboy Prince, who uses they/ them pronouns, says their family has long lived in Brooklyn and told City & State, “my spirit, my energy, my legacy has always been in Brooklyn.” However, the long-shot contender grew up near Washington, D.C., and only moved to New York 2014. And when Prince first announced their candidacy, their listed address was in Bedford-Stuyvesant, near, but not in, the 7th Congressional District. Prince said the address was only used to receive mail. Another address listed more recently with the city Board of Elections puts Prince in Bushwick, which is in the district.
JENIFER RAJKUMAR Jenifer Rajkumar first ran for office in 2016, attempting to win the empty Manhattan Assembly seat vacated by ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver thanks to a corruption scandal. She lost the Democratic primary to Yuh-Line Niou, who went on to win the seat. Four years later, Rajkumar now lives in Woodhaven, Queens, and is running against Assemblyman Michael Miller. Her campaign website notes that her immigrant parents settled in Queens when they came to the U.S.
EVELYN FARKAS “Carpetbagger” is perhaps too strong a word to describe Evelyn Farkas. While she only recently moved into the district she hopes to represent in Congress, it was a move back to the area where she grew up. Farkas was born and raised in Chappaqua, a Westchester suburb represented by the retiring Rep. Nita Lowey, whom Farkas wants to replace. But Farkas hasn’t lived there for years and returned home only in 2019, not long before announcing her congressional ambitions.
RITCHIE TORRES This is another borderline case, but when Ritchie Torres filed to run for Congress last year to replace the retiring Rep. José E. Serrano in the Bronx, the address he provided was just outside the district. However, Torres has represented a portion of the 15th Congressional District as a city councilman and has lived in the Bronx his entire life. He also told City & State that he moved to a new home within the district last year, and the new address he provided matches the one he provided to the New York City Board of Elections. - Rebecca C. Lewis
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OUTSIDERS YDANIS RODRIGUEZ
MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO
NYDIA VELÁZQUEZ
RUNNING FOR: Congressional District 15 LIVES IN: Congressional District 13 Melissa Mark-Viverito technically doesn’t live in the same borough she wants to represent – she calls Manhattan’s East Harlem home while running for a seat in the South Bronx. But like a rival candidate, New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres, the former council speaker represented a part of the district while in the City Council and has noted that she is “literally one stop away” on the subway.
RUBÉN DÍAZ SR. RUNNING FOR: Congressional District 15 LIVES IN: Congressional District 14 New York City Councilman Rubén Díaz Sr. provided only a P.O. box when he first filed with the Federal Elections Commission, but according to the New York City Board of Elections, the city councilman does not live in the district of Rep. José E. Serrano, whom he hopes to replace. However, Díaz is a life-long Bronxite who represents a portion of District 15 as a city councilman.
RUNNING FOR: Congressional District 15 LIVES IN: Congressional District 13 Like Mark-Viverito, New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez lives in Manhattan and is represented by Rep. Adriano Esplliat. But unlike both Mark-Viverito and Torres, Rodriguez has never represented any part of the congressional district as a city councilman.
RUNNING FOR: Congressional District 7 LIVES IN: Congressional District 10 A long-serving member of Congress, Rep. Nydia Velázquez technically lives just outside her district, but that’s only because of the last round of redistricting. She lives in a sliver of Brooklyn represented by Rep. Jerry Nadler, which connects his district’s Manhattan section with the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bensonhurst and Borough Heights.
NATE MCMURRAY RUNNING FOR: Congressional District 27 LIVES IN: Congressional District 26 Living on the east side of Grand Island, which borders Canada, Nate McMurray is separated from the district he wants to represent by the Niagara River. The island is part of Rep. Brian Higgins’ Buffalo district. But that hasn’t stopped McMurray, who’s running his second campaign to replace Chris Collins in the District 27 seat after falling short in 2018. -Rebecca C. Lewis
but could have a non-monetary advantage thanks to his high-profile labor endorsements from unions that are known for getting out the vote, like 1199 SEIU, 32BJ SEIU and DC37. Blake’s status as one of the only non-Hispanic black candidates in the crowded field could also be an advantage if he can get big support from the black Bronxites who make up 28% of the district.
It’s not just other candidates who say that Díaz doesn’t represent the South Bronx’s values. A political action committee called Bronx United is running TV and digital ads in the district slamming the reverend as “a Republican look-alike who admired Donald Trump.” Gay rights groups like the Human Rights Campaign have raised the alarm about Díaz without specifically en-
Former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s old district included part of the South Bronx, but she lives in Manhattan.
dorsing any of his opponents. But one South Bronx political operative, who spoke anonymously because they have worked with many of the candidates, doesn’t think those outside groups will move the needle. “Those people are the Twitter people. The political class,” the operative said. “The nonprofits, they think differently than the guys buying Dutch Masters at the bodega.” Those Bronxites see Díaz – 77 years old, born in Puerto Rico, speaking English with a thick accent – like an uncle. And of course, he has his flock. “Twitter is not an organizing force in these communities,” they said. “Church is.” If any candidate could counter that claim though, it would be Samelys López. The former nonprofit project manager has never held office before, unlike all her chief rivals, but she’s earned headline grabbing endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a neighboring congressional district, as well as the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party. López is a democratic socialist who has positioned herself as the most left-leaning candidate in the race. Santos told City & State that, as an open seat in a district that has only a 2% non-Hispanic white population, the race has major implications for what leadership looks like in communities of color nationally. “Are they in fact the AOC model … insurgent, revolutionary, paradigm-shifting upstarts?” she said. “Or will you find that the district chooses to opt for someone who is clearly aligned with traditional conduits of power?” López, the AOC-model candidate, wants to root her politics in the district’s history. “My platform is inspired by South Bronx revolutionary movements,” she wrote, “from the Young Lords to Hip Hop that empower poor and working class people against corrupt establishment power.” In the 15th Congressional District, the pitch to voters always has to come back to the culture.
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WILLIAM ALATRISTE/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
It certainly helps when candidates live in the congressional district they want to represent, but it’s not a deal breaker when they don’t. Unlike state lawmakers, members of the House of Representatives aren’t required to live in their district, provided they do live somewhere in the state. Though a candidate from the North Country likely wouldn’t seek a seat on Long Island, some do live nearby but technically outside of the district. Here are a few examples this cycle.
May 25, 2020
City & State New York
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2020 HOUSE RACES GUIDE: PANDEMIC EDITION
The Big Thaw When the world froze in place, so did campaigns. Now they only have a month to spring back to life. by J E F F C O L T I N
CREDIT
THE CORONAVIRUS HAS changed everything about New York’s congressional races. Thousands of New Yorkers have died, unemployment has soared, and Congress is choosing who gets government aid – and how much. But New York voters will get to do some choosing too. Twenty-three members of the state’s House delegation are running for reelection this year, and another four seats are open, thanks to retirements and resignations. First up is the June 23 primary election, and in many deeply partisan districts, that’s a bigger deal than the general election. Don’t forget, it was just two years ago that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off the congressional upset of the decade. Subsequent primary losses by a series of state senators later in 2018 only upped the ante. With many candidates inspired by those victories, 2020 has more Democratic primary challenges than any year in recent history – and maybe ever. But now that incumbents are stepping up during the crisis, and since door-to-door campaigning is effectively impossible, the slim chances that challengers had at victory may have gotten even slimmer. For some representatives, particularly those far from New York City, it’ll likely be business as usual as they win reelection with little to no formal opposition. And of course, Republicans are eager to win back the three House seats Democrats flipped in 2018, while setting their sights on grabbing even more seats. Democrats are coveting new seats as well, both upstate and on Long Island. And Western New Yorkers will finally get to fill the congressional seat that’s been empty since former Rep. Chris Collins resigned over insider trading charges in October. Thanks to the pandemic, the primary will be unlike any other in the state’s history, with unprecedented numbers of people voting by mail with absentee ballots. Gov. Andrew Cuomo expanded the practice by executive order, and no one is quite sure what turnout will look like. It’s even less clear what the world will look like on Election Day on Nov. 3. Here’s how all 27 congressional races are shaping up across the state. This information is updated as of May 19.
CityAndStateNY.com
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 1 SUFFOLK COUNT Y
LEE ZELDIN INCUMBENT: Lee Zeldin (R) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +12 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Perry Gershon 36%,
Kate Browning 31%, Vivian Viloria-Fisher 16%, David Pechefsky 12%, Elaine DiMasi 6%
May 25, 2020
ocrat. This district contains the Hamptons, so it’s no surprise the candidates are raising a ton – both Goroff and Gershon had brought in more than $1 million through March 31. Zeldin, one of only two Jewish Republicans in the House, is an Army veteran and an ardent Trump supporter. He managed to avoid a primary for the Republican nomination and has been amassing a huge war chest for what’s likely to be a tough reelection battle in the swing district.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2 NASSAU AND SUFFOLK COUNTIES
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Zeldin 51%,
Gershon 47%
2020 CANDIDATES: Zeldin
(R), Gershon (D), Nancy Goroff (D), Bridget Fleming (D), Gregory-John Fischer (D)
IN 2018, BUSINESSMAN Perry Gershon ran an unsuccessful bid for Rep. Lee Zeldin’s congressional seat on the eastern end of Long Island. Gershon spent big and came tantalizingly close to flipping the seat blue. Now, he’s trying again in 2020, and will likely argue once again that Zeldin’s ardent support for President Donald Trump is out of touch with the relatively moderate district that was represented by a Democrat until 2014. But Gershon has some competition for the Democratic nomination. Nancy Goroff was the chairwoman of Stony Brook University’s chemistry department until she launched her campaign, and she claims she would be the first woman scientist in Congress who has a Ph.D. Bridget Fleming, a Suffolk County legislator and former Manhattan prosecutor, is also running, as is Gregory-John Fischer, a business consultant who has failed in previous runs for Suffolk County executive – as a libertarian – and for state Senate as a Dem-
PETE KING INCUMBENT: Pete King (R) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +9 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Liuba Grechen
Shirley 58%, DuWayne Gregory 42%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: King 53%, Grechen
Shirley 47%
2020 CANDIDATES: Jackie
Gordon (D), Patricia Maher (D), Andrew Garbarino (R), Michael LiPetri (R), Daniel Craig Ross (I), Phillip MacRaurí (I), Harry Burger (G)
REP. PETE KING, the 14-term
incumbent and fixture in New York Republican politics, announced on Veterans Day he wouldn’t be running for reelection, kickstarting what’s sure to be a fierce tussle for the seat from both parties. While the district voted for Trump in 2016, the area – like many suburban districts nationally – seems to be drifting blue, making the seat a target for
While the district voted for Trump, the area – like many suburban districts nationally – seems to be drifting blue. Democrats. Though some thought King’s retirement would open the floodgates to new candidates, it looks like Democrats are sticking with Jackie Gordon, a member of the Babylon Town Council and a retired lieutenant Army colonel who was already running against King. Gordon has the local Democratic Party’s backing as well as national support, but she’ll face Patricia Maher, a former director of development at a nonprofit who ran against King in 2014. On the Republican side, the GOP establishment is lining up behind Assemblyman Andrew Garbarino, an attorney who has served in the state Legislature since 2013. He’s earned the endorsement of party leaders in both the Nassau and Suffolk counties, King and Rep. Lee Zeldin. That support was enough to get Suffolk County Board of Elections Commissioner Nicholas LaLota to launch an ill-fated campaign for state Senate instead. But Garbarino will still face a primary challenge from his legislative colleague, Assemblyman Michael LiPetri. Also in the race are Harry Burger of the Green Party, Phillip MacRaurí, who is running as an independent, and Daniel Craig Ross, a 28-yearold independent running on a platform of a $1,000-a-month universal basic income. He was previously running in District 3 before switching districts.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 3 QUEENS, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK COUNTIES INCUMBENT: Thomas Suozzi
(D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL
THOMAS SUOZZI RESULTS: Clinton +6 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Suozzi 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Suozzi (D) 59%,
Dan DeBono (R) 41%
2020 CANDIDATES: Suozzi
(D), Melanie D’Arrigo (D), Michael Weinstock (D), George Anthony DevolderSantos (R) Howard Rabin (L)
DEMOCRATIC REP. THOMAS Suozzi went unchallenged
in the 2018 primaries, but now has several insurgents eager to take him on. First is Democratic activist and wellness professional Melanie D’Arrigo, who’s positioning herself as a far-left alternative to the more centrist Suozzi. D’Arrigo has said Suozzi has not gone far enough in condemning Trump’s immigration policies and that he is too cozy with corporate America. Then there’s Michael Weinstock, a gay former Brooklyn prosecutor, volunteer fireman and 9/11 first responder, who is running to the left of Suozzi, and is pledging to treat Queens residents equally in the Long Island-dominated district. Joshua Sauberman, a former United Nations analyst and insurance broker who briefly challenged Suozzi in 2018, planned to run again in 2020, but has since dropped out and endorsed D’Arrigo. It’s a safe blue district,
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but whoever wins the primary is likely to face Republican George Anthony Devolder-Santos in the general election. He’s a Queens native who’s worked in various jobs in finance and earned the endorsement of the Nassau County GOP. Libertarian Party candidate Howard Rabin is also running in the general election.
City & State New York
a cryptocurrency enthusiast and the commissioner of engineering for Hempstead. Green Party candidate Joseph Naham is also running in the general election.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 5 QUEENS AND NASSAU COUNT Y
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 4 NASSAU COUNT Y
bartender, Shaniyat Chowdhury. The first-time candidate is a longshot, but is hoping to get support from the same progressive movement that got behind Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Queens district attorney candidate Tiffany Cabán. Also in the race is Amit Lal, a logistics coordinator at a shipping company who says he can work both sides of the aisle as a registered independent. Meeks isn’t likely to face much of a challenge. Through March 31, Meeks had more than $600,000 in his campaign account. Chowdhury had had just over $17,000 and Lal just over $5,000.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6 GREGORY MEEKS
QUEENS
INCUMBENT: Gregory Meeks
(D) KATHLEEN RICE INCUMBENT: Kathleen Rice
(D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +10 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Rice 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Rice (D) 61%,
Ameer Benno (R) 39%
2020 CANDIDATES: Rice (D),
Cindy Grosz (R), Douglas Tuman (R), Joseph Naham (G)
THIRD-TERM REP. K ATHLEEN Rice got some national
attention this term for leading the charge to replace House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arguing that she needed to make room for younger generations in the House leadership. Rice represents a politically moderate district as a centrist Democrat who, according to WNYC, is one of the most likely House Democrats to work across the aisle. She has avoided a primary, and that bipartisan spirit will likely help her cruise to victory once again in the suburban district. But first, two Republicans will face off in a primary: Cindy Grosz, a Jewish activist and media personality, and Douglas Tuman,
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +73 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Meeks 82%, Carl
Achille 10%, Mizan Choudhury 9%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Meeks 100% 2020 CANDIDATES: Meeks
(D), Shaniyat Chowdhury (D), Amit Lal (I)
REP. GREGORY MEEKS, who
entered Congress in 1998, was elected the chairman of the Queens County Democratic Party earlier this year. The well-funded, proud capitalist has never faced a serious challenge for his Southeast Queens seat, but will be one of many incumbent Democrats facing a challenge from the left in 2020 – in this case, from a 27-year-old democratic socialist military veteran and
GRACE MENG INCUMBENT: Grace Meng (D) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +33 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Meng 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Meng (D) 91%, Tom
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taking office in 2013, but this year she’s facing a pair of primary challengers. Mel Gagarin, a Filipino American member of the Democratic Socialists of America, will challenge Meng from the left, supporting universal basic income and the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He has previously worked in politics, including on Tiffany Cabán’s campaign for Queens district attorney, and unsuccessfully ran for New York City Council in 2009. Also challenging Meng from the left is Sandra Choi, an economic development policy expert, who has attacked Meng’s machine ties. Choi grew up in Queens, and her parents emigrated from South Korea. Meng, who has built a national profile as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, will not be hurting for institutional support in the primary, and has vastly outraised her opponents. The seat is all but guaranteed to stay in Democratic hands, but Republican Thomas Zmich, a U.S. Army veteran, member of the bricklayers union and president of a proTrump group called MAGA Queens, has filed to run.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 7 BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, QUEENS
Hillgardner (G) 9%
2020 CANDIDATES: Meng (D),
Sandra Choi (D), Melquiades Gagarin (D), Thomas Zmich (R)
REP. GRACE MENG has comfortably won reelection since
The proud capitalist has never faced a serious challenge, but will be one of many facing a challenge from the left.
NYDIA VELÁZQUEZ INCUMBENT: Nydia Velázquez
(D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +77 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Velázquez 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Velázquez (D) 93%,
20 CityAndStateNY.com
AS A 14-TERM Latina with
progressive bona fides, Rep. Nydia Velázquez didn’t seem like the kind of candidate who’d have to worry about a primary challenge. That’s not stopping Bushwick-based performance artist Paperboy Love Prince from trying to garner attention with a run. Prince, a major supporter of Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign, is running a left-leaning campaign based on support for universal basic income, but seems to be focusing entirely on social media – they haven’t reported raising or spending a single cent. Iroghama Christianna Omere, a middle school science teacher and a member of the conservative Federalist Society, has also filed to run as an independent.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 8 BROOKLYN, QUEENS
A nearly successful challenge two years ago has other candidates eager to mount their own campaigns. gation, but all House Democrats as the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. His predecessor in that position, former Rep. Joe Crowley, showed that nobody is untouchable – but Jeffries is close to it. He may be the only member of New York’s congressional delegation to be uncontested in a primary and the general election. Needless to say, a 2018 Politico report that Jeffries was the “highest priority” target for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and leftist political group Justice Democrats – something Ocasio-Cortez later denied – never resulted in anything. Insurance salesman and president of the Howard Beach Kiwanis Club, Abe Jamie Garcia, had filed to run as a Democrat in October, but never ended up mounting a campaign.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 9 BROOKLYN
HAKEEM JEFFRIES INCUMBENT: Hakeem Jeffries
(D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +71 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Jeffries 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Jeffries (D) 94%,
Ernest Johnson (C) 5% 2020 CANDIDATES: Jeffries (D)
LESS THAN EIGHT years into
his tenure in Congress, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries has taken a leadership position not just among the New York dele-
YVETTE CLARKE INCUMBENT: Yvette Clarke
2020 CANDIDATES: Clarke
(D), Bunkeddeko (D), Isiah James (D), Chaim Deutsch (D), Lutchi Gayot (D), Joel Azumah (I) Gary Popkin (L)
IT SEEMS THAT communi-
ty development professional Adem Bunkeddeko’s nearly successful challenge to seven-term Rep. Yvette Clarke two years ago has other candidates eager to mount their own campaigns. Bunkeddeko has been itching for a rematch, and will likely once again accuse Clarke of being a do-nothing legislator. Isiah James, an Army veteran and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, will likely say Clarke isn’t progressive enough. Lutchi Gayot, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in 2018, is running this cycle as a Democrat. As is New York City Councilman Chaim Deutsch, a conservative Democrat who’s making an electoral play for the district’s Orthodox Jewish minority. Also in the race are Joel Azumah, an independent who has run the past three cycles without having much of an impact, and Gary Popkin, a Libertarian activist. Having multiple Democratic challengers, plus the support of the Brooklyn Democratic establishment, will likely make Clarke even more difficult to unseat than two years ago.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 10
(D)
MANHAT TAN, BROOKLYN
Bunkeddeko 48%
INCUMBENT: Jerry Nadler (D) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +60 2018 PRIMARY RESULTS:
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +69 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Clarke 52%, Adem 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Clarke (D) 89%,
Lutchi Gayot (R) 10%
Nadler 100%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Nadler (D) 82%
JERRY NADLER
Naomi Levin (R) 18% 2020 CANDIDATES: Nadler (D), Lindsey Boylan (D), Jonathan Herzog (D), Cathy Bernstein (R), Michael Madrid (L), Jeanne Nigro (I) REP. JERRY NADLER was first
elected to Congress in 1992, and the powerful House Judiciary Committee chairman hasn’t faced a serious electoral challenge since. That seemed to have changed this year, when six candidates lined up to challenge him. Most have dropped out, but two made the primary ballot, including Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo who has run an energetic campaign and says that Nadler isn’t active enough and previously criticized his hesitancy to impeach President Donald Trump. There’s also Jonathan Herzog, a former Andrew Yang presidential campaign staffer advocating for universal basic income. With more than one antiestablishment challenger in the primary, the popular, highly visible and well-funded Nadler is all but guaranteed victory. This seat is as safely blue as it gets, but Cathy Bernstein, a tax accountant, is running on the Republican Party line. Michael Madrid is running in the general election as a Libertarian, and Christian self-help minister Jeanne Nigro has also filed to run as an independent.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 11 STATEN ISLAND, BROOKLYN INCUMBENT: Max Rose (D) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +10
U.S. HOUSE; GUERIN BLASK
Joseph Lieberman (C) 6% 2020 CANDIDATES: Velázquez (D), Paperboy Love Prince (D), Iroghama Christianna Omere (I) Gilbert Midonnet (L)
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May 25, 2020
City & State New York
UPDATE ON THE UPSTARTS How’s the race treating these young and hungry challengers?
With the Democratic primary a month away, these insurgents we highlighted back in November have learned how challenging it can be to unseat an entrenched incumbent. But that doesn’t mean they’re not still trying. Here’s how they’ve been faring in their respective races.
From left, Mel Gagarin, Lauren Ashcraft, Shaniyat Chowdhury, Melanie D’Arrigo, Lindsey Boylan and Jamaal Bowman. Inspired by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all six are challenging established congressional Democrats from the left.
Lauren Ashcraft has struggled to get much attention in her race against Rep. Carolyn Maloney, with primary opponent Suraj Patel, who also ran in 2018, sucking up most of the air.
Melanie D’Arrigo failed in her attempt to get Rep. Tom Suozzi’s other primary challenger, Michael Weinstock, off the ballot on Long Island. Now they’ll risk splitting the anti-incumbent vote – if there’s much of one at all.
The
Upstarts
The candidates everybody’s going to be talking about
by J E F F C O L T I N
Mel Gagarin has failed to earn major endorsements and has struggled with fundraising in his race against Rep. Grace Meng in Queens. With $1.2 million on hand, she has 100 times the $12,000 in Gagarin’s account.
Jamaal Bowman seems to have the best chance to win, since he’s won nationwide attention in his race against Rep. Eliot Engel in the Bronx and Westchester. But like others, Bowman will have to contend with a crowded field.
Shaniyat Chowdhury always expected that beating Rep. Greg Meeks would be even harder than beating Joe Crowley, Meeks’ predecessor as the boss of Queens. And after months without Chowdhury gaining traction, that’s still true.
portraits by G U E R I N B L A S K
Lindsey Boylan’s strong fundraising scared Rep. Jerry Nadler enough that he asked for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s endorsement to help shore up progressive support. But the popular Nadler is still in the driver’s seat.
21
22 CityAndStateNY.com
DeVito 19%, Others combined 16%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Rose (D) 53%, Dan
Donovan (R-incumbent) 47%
2020 CANDIDATES: Rose (D),
Nicole Malliotakis (R), Joseph Caldarera (R)
FIRST-TERM REP. MA X Rose
is a rare Democrat to represent this traditionally red Staten Island seat, so this is shaping up to be a real general election
MAX ROSE
battle for the city’s one swing seat. But first, Republican voters will need to pick their champion in the primary. Fiveterm Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis seems to be the front-runner and has already earned support from President Donald Trump and the national GOP establishment, which has helped her with fundraising. But Joseph Caldarera, a 27-year-old staunchly conservative former assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, is challenging Malliotakis, arguing she isn’t conservative enough. Since Democrats see Rose as their best chance to hold on to the seat, he’s avoided a primary and will be able use his entire campaign account of more than $3 million in the general election.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 12 MANHAT TAN, QUEENS, BROOKLYN INCUMBENT: Carolyn
Maloney (D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +70 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
RESULTS: Maloney 59%, Suraj
Patel 41%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Maloney (D) 86%,
Eliot Rabin (R) 12%
2020 CANDIDATES: Maloney
(D), Patel (D), Lauren Ashcraft (D), Peter Harrison (D), Carlos Santiago-Cano (R), Steven Kolln (L)
IT SEEMS LIKE everyone has their eyes on Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s three-borough seat, thanks to attorney and political operative Suraj Patel’s spirited 2018 primary challenge that exposed the 14-term congresswoman’s political vulnerabilities as the embodiment of the Upper East Side’s old-guard Democratic establishment. Patel, a political activist and NYU business professor, will be challenging her once again, but this time it won’t be oneon-one. Also on the ballot will be Lauren Ashcraft, a 30-year-
newly minted Oversight Committee chairwoman this year. The district is about as safely Democratic as it gets, but Carlos Santiago-Cano, real estate broker and president of a car service company, is running on the Republican Party line and Steven Kolln on the Libertarian line.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 13 MANHAT TAN, BRONX
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT INCUMBENT: Adriano
Espaillat (D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +87 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Espaillat 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Espaillat (D) 95%,
ic will be at play once again in 2020, with black Harlemite James Felton Keith mounting a primary challenge against Espaillat. “JFK,” a bisexual entrepreneur who briefly ran last cycle, has put together a slick campaign running on idiosyncratic policies like creating a universal basic income. Also in the race is Ramon Rodriguez, a business etiquette expert. Both face an uphill battle against Espaillat, who has been in politics for decades and will likely have the full force of the Democratic establishment on his side. Two other long shots are running in the safely blue district – Lovelynn Gwinn, a Harlem landlord running as a Republican, and Christopher Morris-Perry, who’s aiming for the Conservative Party line.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 14 QUEENS, BRONX
Jineea Butler (R) 5%
CAROLYN MALONEY
old comedian and former JPMorgan Chase & Co. project manager living in Queens, who’s running on a left-leaning platform of getting money out of politics, and Peter Harrison, a housing activist and Democratic Socialist, who will also be challenging Maloney from the left. Maloney won the primary comfortably in 2018, and the conditions may be even more favorable for the
2020 CANDIDATES: Espaillat
(D), James Felton Keith (D), Ramon Rodriguez (D), Lovelynn Gwinn (R), Christopher Morris-Perry (C)
RACE HAS ALWAYS been
front and center in this district, and some observers saw the Dominican Republic-born Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s 2016 election as a sign that power was shifting from historically black Harlem and into the Latino stronghold of Washington Heights. That dynam-
Race has always been front and center in this district, and that dynamic will be at play once again.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ INCUMBENT: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +58 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Ocasio-Cortez 57%,
Joe Crowley 43%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Ocasio-Cortez
78%, Anthony Pappas (R) 14%, Crowley (WFP) 7% 2020 CANDIDATES: OcasioCortez (D), Michelle CarusoCabrera (D), Badrun Khan (D), Samuel Sloan (D), John Cummings (R) POLITICALLY MODERATE DEMOCRATS have taken
aim at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the demo-
U.S. HOUSE
2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Rose 65%, Michael
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May 25, 2020
City & State New York
It’ll be hard to unseat the extremely well-funded international celebrity, but three Democrats are trying. cratic socialist movement she represents in Congress. It’ll be hard to unseat the extremely well-funded international celebrity, but three Democrats are trying. There’s Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, a former news anchor on CNBC who used to be a Republican; Badrun Khan, a financial officer and member of Queens Community Board 2; and Samuel Sloan, a chess player and perennial candidate. The two-borough seat is solidly Democratic, but that won’t stop Republicans from taking a chance to challenge AOC’s politics. Some nine Republicans initially filed to run, but John Cummings, a high school teacher and former police officer managed to clear the field, and will presumably be on the ballot in November.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 15 BRONX
JOSÉ E. SERRANO INCUMBENT: José E. Serrano
(D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +89 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Serrano 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Serrano (D) 96%,
Jason Gonzalez (R) 4%
2020 CANDIDATES: Tomas
Ramos (D), Samelys López
(D), Frangell Basora (D), Melissa Mark-Viverito (D), Michael Blake (D), Rubén Díaz Sr. (D), Mark EscofferyBey (D), Ritchie Torres (D), Chivona Newsome (D), Ydanis Rodriguez (D), Julio Pabón (D), Marlene Tapper (D), Patrick Delices (R) AFTER SERVING THREE de-
cades in Congress, Rep. José E. Serrano isn’t seeking reelection next year, making this South Bronx seat one of the few open seats in the state. Now it’s the busiest race in the state, with 12 Democrats running to replace Serrano, including a handful of prominent current and former liberal elected officials: Assemblyman Michael Blake, who has a national profile as a vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and current New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, both of whom live outside the district in Manhattan, and New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres, who has dominated fundraising so far by bringing in nearly $1.3 million through March 31. But some progressives fear the crowd could split the liberal vote and hand the race to New York City Councilman Rubén Díaz Sr., the socially conservative Christian pastor with a long history of anti-gay remarks. Other candidates include Samelys López, a housing activist who has earned support from powerhouses like the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America despite being a first-time candidate, and Chivona Newsome, an insurance agent who became the director of operations with Black Lives Matter in New York. Also on the ballot are Tomas Ramos, a nonprofit program direc-
tor; Frangell Basora, a former congressional intern; Mark Escoffery-Bey, a copy center owner who ran for Bronx borough president in 2013; Julio Pabón, an entrepreneur; and Marlene Tapper, a former New York City Council aide. It may be the state’s most Democratic district, but Patrick Delices, a professor who has previously run for the New York City Council, is planning to run on the Republican Party and Conservative Party lines.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 16 BRONX , WESTCHESTER COUNT Y
ELIOT ENGEL INCUMBENT: Eliot Engel (D) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +53 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Engel 74%,
23
al groups like Justice Democrats, a progressive political action committee aligned with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Like Ocasio-Cortez before him, Bowman is making the case that the district needs a younger, more progressive candidate of color. Andom Ghebreghiorgis, a special education teacher, is also planning to run to Engel’s left, criticizing the incumbent for taking money from corporate political action committees. Bowman and Ghebreghiorgis have both stated that they will not be taking any money from corporate PACs and that their campaigns will rely on small donations. The two challengers have both come out against Engel’s foreign policy record, which includes voting for the Iraq War. Other Democratic primary opponents to Engel are Sammy Ravelo, a Gulf War veteran and retired NYPD lieutenant, and Chris Fink, a tax attorney and self-proclaimed municipal power expert.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 17 WESTCHESTER AND ROCKLAND COUNTIES
Jonathan Lewis 16%, Joyce Briscoe 6%, Derickson Lawrence 4%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Engel 100% 2020 CANDIDATES: Engel (D),
Andom Ghebreghiorgis (D), Jamaal Bowman (D), Samuel Ravelo (D), Chris Fink (D)
LAST YEAR, 16-TERM Dem-
ocratic incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel easily defeated three primary challengers and ran unopposed in the general. Engel will still be the oddson favorite for reelection in 2020, but he’ll likely be facing more of a challenge than before with a handful of candidates hoping to unseat him. Jamaal Bowman, a Bronx middle school principal, has already received some attention from the national press thanks to his backing from nation-
NITA LOWEY INCUMBENT: Nita Lowey (D) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +20 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Lowey 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Nita Lowey (D) 88%,
Joe Ciardullo (Reform) 12%
2020 CANDIDATES:
Catherine Parker (D), Mondaire Jones (D), Adam Schleifer (D), Allison Fine (D), Asha Castleberry (D), David Buchwald (D), Evelyn
24 CityAndStateNY.com
REP. NITA LOWEY, a con-
gresswoman since 1989 and current chairwoman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced in October she wouldn’t be running for reelection, making this seat one of the hottest – and biggest – races in the state. Among the top contenders are the two Davids: state Sen. David Carlucci, a moderate Democrat who will face criticism for his role as a member of the former breakaway Independent Democratic Conference, and Assemblyman David Buchwald, a self-proclaimed progressive who led the charge to write a state law to access President Donald Trump’s tax returns. Running to their left seems to be Mondaire Jones, the black, gay, Harvard Law grad and firsttime candidate who has earned progressive endorsements from the Working Families Party and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. There’s also Adam Schleifer, a prosecutor in the nationally covered Varsity Blues case and son of biotech billionaire Leonard Schleifer who has far outraised the other candidates, mostly by spending his own money. Other candidates include Allison Fine, former board chairwoman of the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, Evelyn Farkas, a former foreign policy adviser to the U.S. Department of Defense, Catherine Parker, a Westchester County Legislator, and Asha Castleberry, a foreign policy adviser and major in the Army Reserve. Two Republicans are also running a primary for the safe blue district: Yehudis Gottesfeld, a former chemical engineer at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and Maureen McArdle-Schulman, a retired FDNY lieutenant endorsed by the Westchester County Republican Party. Fellow Republican Josh Eisen dropped out of the primary race in February after City & State reported on his document-
ed history of harassment and racial slurs, but he now plans to run as an independent.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 18 LOWER HUDSON VALLEY
less than Maloney has raised this cycle. A newcomer to the district, Farley told City & State in a May 2019 interview that her campaign was focused on reducing energy costs, lowering taxes and updating infrastructure. She also said she appreciated President Donald Trump’s support for her 2018 Senate campaign and will be voting for him in 2020. Scott Smith, a middle school science teacher, has also filed to run as an independent.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 19 SEAN PATRICK MALONEY
UPPER HUDSON VALLEY AND THE CATSKILLS
INCUMBENT: Sean Patrick
Maloney (D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +2 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Sean Patrick
Maloney 100%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Sean Patrick
Maloney (D) 56%, James O’Donnell (R) 45% 2020 CANDIDATES: Maloney (D), Chele Chiavacci Farley (R), Scott Smith (I) DEMOCRATIC REP. SEAN
Patrick Maloney has represented New York’s 18th District since 2013, but Republicans see an opportunity to pick up a district that voted for President Donald Trump in 2016. Enter Chele Chiavacci Farley, a Republican who ran against U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2018. As the New York GOP’s former city finance chairwoman, she’s putting up decent fundraising numbers, bringing in nearly $700,000 through March 31 – but that’s still $1 million
ANTONIO DELGADO INCUMBENT: Antonio
Delgado (D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +7 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Delgado 22%,
IN THE 2018 midterm, Rep.
Antonio Delgado unseated the Republican incumbent John Faso in a contentious race that became racially charged. Delgado is a Rhodes scholar and a Harvard Law School graduate who was targeted in the election for his brief career as a rapper. His fundraising prowess and an endorsement from former President Barack Obama helped bring him over the top and flip the seat from red to blue. Democrats are afraid of losing the seat, so Delgado isn’t facing a primary challenge, but he may not have much of a challenge in the general election either, since the GOP failed to find a strong challenger. The two Republicans vying in a primary for the chance to take on Delgado in November are Ola Hawatmeh, a 42-yearold fashion designer, and Kyle Van De Water, an attorney and Army veteran. Green Party candidate Steve Greenfield and Libertarian Victoria Alexander are also running in the general election.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 20 CAPITAL REGION
Gareth Rhodes 18%, Pat Ryan 18%, Brian Flynn 13%, Jeff Beals 13%, Dave Clegg 11%, Erin Collier 5%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Delgado (D) 51%,
John Faso (R-incumbent) 46%
2020 CANDIDATES: Delgado
(D), Kyle Van De Water (R), Ola Hawatmeh (R),Steve Greenfield (G), Victoria Alexander (L)
Rep. Nita Lowey announced she wouldn’t be running, making this the hottest – and biggest – race in the state.
PAUL TONKO INCUMBENT: Paul Tonko (D) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +13 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Tonko 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Tonko (D) 67%, Joe
Vitollo (R) 34%
2020 CANDIDATES: Tonko
(D), Elizabeth Joy (R)
REP. PAUL TONKO, currently serving his sixth term, has been in the House since 2009
U.S. HOUSE
Farkas (D), David Carlucci (D), Yehudis Gottesfeld (R), Maureen McArdle-Schulman (R) Josh Eisen (I)
May 25, 2020
May 25, 2020
and handily defeated his 2018 Republican opponent Joe Vitollo in his upstate district. This cycle, Republican Liz Joy will be taking on Tonko in the reliable Democratic district. Joy is a Schenectady resident and a real estate agent who is positioning herself as a hard-line conservative candidate. On her website, she states that she is running on border security, anti-abortion policies, cutting taxes and keeping private health insurance. But she’s at a serious financial disadvantage, having raised just over $140,000 this cycle, compared to Tonko’s more than $900,000.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 21 NORTH COUNTRY
ELISE STEFANIK INCUMBENT: Elise Stefanik
(R)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +14 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Tedra Cobb: 56%,
City & State New York
The race has gone national, after Stefanik’s ardent defenses of Trump during the impeachment inquiry. “Taxin’ Tedra.” Their rivalry has only kept heating up, with Cobb calling out Stefanik’s campaign donations, while Stefanik tweeted that Cobb is wishy-washy on impeachment and gun control. Now the race has gone national, after Stefanik made national headlines for her ardent defenses of Trump during the impeachment inquiry. Cobb got $1 million in donations in just three days in November, from donors looking to stick it to Trump. Stefanik supporters fired back, adding a quarter million to her already huge haul. Neither is facing a primary, so this big money race is fully focused on November. As of March 31, Stefanik had just over $4 million left in her campaign account, and Cobb had nearly $2.4 million.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 22 CENTRAL NEW YORK
Cobb (D) 42%
REP. ELISE STEFANIK and
Tedra Cobb are looking to rehash 2018. Stefanik is running on her record in Congress, and Cobb is already hitting her for it. Stefanik released an ad shortly after Cobb’s campaign announcement highlighting her failure to win in the midterm and bringing back her nickname for her opponent,
IN THE 2018 midterm, Rep.
Anthony Brindisi narrowly defeated the one-term Trump diehard Republican incumbent Claudia Tenney. Now Tenney is trying to win the seat back from Brindisi, and it’s likely to be a close race again. Two years ago, Brindisi’s politically moderate positions earned him an endorsement from former Republican Reps. Richard Hanna and Sherwood Boehlert. Brindisi now holds a seat on the House Committee on Agriculture, which he has used to strengthen his position as an advocate for Central New York’s farmers. With Democrats eager to hold on to the seat in 2020, he’s avoided a primary challenge, but Tenney isn’t so lucky. If she wants a rematch with Brindisi, she’ll first have to beat George K. Phillips, a history teacher who has run for Congress three times. Libertarian Keith Price is also running in the general election.
WESTERN NEW YORK
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Stefanik (R) 56%,
(R), Cobb (D)
(D), Tenney (R), George K. Phillips (R), Keith Price (L)
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 23
Dylan Ratigan 12%, Katie Wilson 12%, Emily Martz 10%, Patrick Nelson 9%, Don Boyajian 1%
2020 CANDIDATES: Stefanik
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ANTHONY BRINDISI INCUMBENT: Anthony
Brindisi (D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +16 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Brindisi 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Brindisi (D) 51%,
Claudia Tenney (R-incumbent) 49% 2020 CANDIDATES: Brindisi
INCUMBENT: Tom Reed (R) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +15 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Tracy Mitrano 32%,
Max Della Pia 32%, Linda Andrei 15%, Ian Golden 13%, Edward Sundquist 6%
TOM REED
of the leaders of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus that has recently taken on infrastructure as a top priority. And all of the local Republican Party chairmen in the district approve of the work he’s done with the group. Reed is running to secure a sixth and possibly final term. The congressman has been a vocal supporter of term limits in the past. Hoping to stop him is Tracy Mitrano, who is taking another swing at Reed after getting within single digits in 2018 in the solidly red district. Mitrano has picked up endorsements from local party leaders and the National Women’s Political Caucus, and, unlike in 2018, has managed to avoid a primary, but still faces a serious fundraising disadvantage and a district that went strongly for President Donald Trump in 2016. Green Party candidate David Baker is also running in the general election.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 24 CENTRAL NEW YORK INCUMBENT: John Katko (R) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +4 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Dana Balter 62%,
Juanita Perez Williams 37%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Katko (R) 53%,
Balter (D) 47%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Reed (R) 54%,
2020 CANDIDATES: Katko (R),
2020 CANDIDATES: Reed (R),
REP. JOHN KATKO official-
Mitrano (D) 46%
Mitrano (D), David Baker (G)
REPUBLICAN REP. TOM Reed has highlighted his role as one
Balter (D), Francis Conole (D) ly announced his reelection bid in July, touting pragmatism and thanking his district for the support he’d
26 CityAndStateNY.com
May 25, 2020
45%, Rachel Barnhart 20%, Robin Wilt 17%, Adam McFadden 17%
2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Morelle (D) 59%,
Jim Maxwell (R) 41%
2020 CANDIDATES: Morelle JOHN KATKO
already received. He has disagreed with Trump in the past, signaling a willingness to break with the president in a district that supported Clinton in 2016, but didn’t go so far as to support the impeachment inquiry against the president. In recent history, the district has flip-flopped between red and blue, and Democrats are hoping 2020 is their shot to turn it blue again. Syracuse University professor Dana Balter ran a close race against Katko in 2018 and has earned institutional backing from elected officials and national groups like Emily’s List. But if she wants a rematch against Katko, she’ll first have to win a primary against Francis Conole, a defense policy adviser and Navy veteran who has slightly outraised Balter and has the support of a couple county Democratic Party chapters.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 25 MONROE COUNT Y
(D), Wilt (D), George Mitris (R), Kevin Wilson (L)
ROCHESTER AND ITS
suburbs are in for a primary rematch, with Brighton town board member Robin Wilt challenging Rep. Joseph Morelle. Wilt came in third in the primary for longtime incumbent Rep. Louise Slaughter’s seat, behind Morelle and Rachel Barnhart. Wilt is running to the left of the moderate Morelle and has earned the endorsement of the Rochester Democratic Socialists of America. But Morelle, a former Assemblyman, easily won the traditionally blue seat two years ago, and seems likely to do so again. Other candidates running in November include George Mitris, a Republican local businessman and attorney, and Kevin Wilson, the chairman of the Monroe County Libertarian Party.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 26
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +16
WESTERN NEW YORK INCUMBENT: Vacant 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Trump +25 2018 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RESULTS: Chris Collins 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Collins (R) 49.1%,
Nate McMurray (D) 48.8%, Other 2%
INCUMBENT: Brian Higgins
2020 GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES: McMurray (D),
(D)
2016 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS: Clinton +20 2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Higgins 100% 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS: Higgins (D) 73%,
(D), Ricky Donovan (R), Mike Raleigh (G)
INCUMBENT: Joseph Morelle
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 27
2020 SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATES: McMurray (D),
Renee Zeno (R) 28%
(D)
never faced a serious electoral challenge in his eight terms representing the safe blue seat. That won’t change this year, as it seems that construction contractor Emin “Eddie” Egriu failed to qualify for the primary. Other candidates who have filed to join the race include Mike Raleigh of the Green Party and Ricky Donovan, a Republican former state Senate and Assembly candidate.
ERIE AND NIAGARA COUNTIES
2020 CANDIDATES: Higgins
JOSEPH MORELLE
BRIAN HIGGINS
THERE’S MORE THAN enough electoral drama in Western New York thanks to the neighboring 27th congressional district, but things are pretty simple in 26th district, centered on Buffalo. Veteran Rep. Brian Higgins has
Chris Jacobs (R)
Jacobs (R), Beth Parlato (R), Stefan Mychajliw (R), Duane Whitmer (L), Nicholas Phelps (L), Michael Gammariello (G)
THE RACE FOR New York’s
27th Congressional District
has been completely shaken up following the resignation of former Republican Rep. Chris Collins on Oct. 1, after he pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading. And it was shaken up even further by the coronavirus, which postponed the special election that had been scheduled for April 28. It’s been rescheduled for June 23, when voters enrolled in any party will get to pick who will immediately fill the seat for the remainder of 2020. Some voters will also be voting that same day in a primary to pick their party’s representative in the November general election. First things first, the special election will feature Republican state Sen. Chris Jacobs and Democrat Nate McMurray, the former Grand Island town supervisor who nearly unseated Collins in 2018. Win or lose in the special election, McMurray will appear on the November ballot for the Democrats and the Working Families Party. But the Republicans have a busy primary, with Jacobs seeing challenges from Beth Parlato, an attorney who earned the state Conservative Party’s endorsement, and Stefan Mychajliw, the Erie County comptroller who has presented himself as a more Trump-friendly alternative to the relatively moderate Jacobs. There will also be a rare Libertarian Party primary between Duane Whitmer and Nicholas Phelps. Finally, Michael Gammariello will be representing the Green Party. With reporting by Jana Cholakovska, Madeline Lyskawa, Ethan Stark-Miller and Emma Bolton
The race has been completely shaken up after Rep. Chris Collins pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading.
U.S. HOUSE
2018 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RESULTS: Joseph Morelle
NONPROFIT RESILIENCE THROUGH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC JUNE 4, 2020 - 2:30PM-3:30PM EST As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout New York, the country and the world, nonprofit organizations are facing unprecedented challenges to their operations, staffing and fundraising. Nonprofits must find ways to protect employees and manage staffing levels while preventing potential financial shortfalls. They must remain flexible and resilient to effectively navigate these uncertain timesand provide services during this crisis. How nonprofits respond during this crisis could determine their long-term sustainability.
PA N E LI STS I N C LU D E
MICHELLE YANCHE Executive Director, Good Shepherd Services
MARCO DAMIANI Chief Executive Officer, AHRC NYC
LISA DAVID President and CEO, Public Health Solutions
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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES
May 25, 2020
DCJB, LLC . Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/4/2020. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 54 West Terrace Staten Island, NY 10312. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
May 25, 2020 For more info. 212-268-0442 Ext.2039
legalnotices@cityandstateny.com Notice of Formation of JB Capstone Enterprises, LLC, filed with SSNY on 2/4/14. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 12 East 37th St, 2nd Floor, NY, NY 10016. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of 5hndred Autohaus, LLC filed with SSNY on March 3, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 615 Manor rd, Staten Island, NY. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE OF FORMATION of a limited liability company (LLC). The name of the limited liability company is 1321 EAST 7TH STREET LLC. The date of filing of the articles of organization with the Department of State was January 21, 2020. The County in New York in which the office of the company is located is Kings. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of the company upon whom process may be served, and the Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the company served upon him or her to 1321 East 7th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11230. The business purpose of the company is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under the laws of the State of New York.
App. for Auth. (LLC) Solid & Striped LLC. App. for Auth. filed w/ the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 4/1/20. LLC formed in DE on 6/7/12. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 529 W. 20th St., #7E, NY, NY 10011, registered agent upon whom process may be served. Purpose: All lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of AR Practice Management Firm, LLC filed with SSNY on March 5, 2020. Office: NY Dutchess County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 59 Hudson Heights Drive, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of ReVased, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Maryland (MD) on 10/16/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o ReVased, LLC, 1829 Reisterstown Road, #425, Baltimore, MD 21208. Cert. of Form. filed with Director of State of MD Dept of Assessments and Taxation, 301 West Preston Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF FORMATION of YL Partners LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/10/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail a copy of process against LLC to the LLC, 145 East 48th Street, # 29B, New York, NY 10017. Purpose: any lawful act. Notice of Formation of Rise N’ Shine Commercial Cleaning, LLC filed with SSNY on April 20, 2020. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served: Jordane Johnson. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 160 Concord Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE OF FORMATION of limited liability company (LLC). Name: MO WELLNESS FOUNDATION, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 04/01/2020. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: MAURICE HURD 3410 DE REIMER AVE APT 7J BRONX, NY 10475. Purpose: any lawful purpose. DCJB, LLC . Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/4/2020. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 54 West Terrace Staten Island, NY 10312. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
Design Lady LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/07/2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to the LLC, 7014 13th avenue suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
Notice of Formation of Saturday Cartoons LLC filed with SSNY on 1/17/20. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 694 Metropolitan Ave,#201 Brooklyn, NY 11211. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.
ZNK, LLC Art. of Org filed with the SSNY on 4/17/20. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 47 E 30th St., Apt. 5, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
Notice of formation of MikeGeez Fitness Boutique, LLC. Filed with SSNY Richmond County on 1/20/2020. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it ay be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 4131 Hylan Blvd, SI, NY 10308. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.
Design Lady LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/07/2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to the LLC, 7014 13th avenue suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1328147 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 471 MYRTLE AVE. BROOKLYN, NY 11205 KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. MR LEE’S OF MYRTLE AVENUE INC Notice of Formation of Rise N’ Shine Commercial Cleaning, LLC filed with SSNY on April 20, 2020. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served: Jordane Johnson. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 160 Concord Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.
LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM
Notice of Formation of Peach Ink LLC filed with SSNY on February 18, 2020. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 50 Deertree Lane, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of formation of JJS 220, LLC, a domestic LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 5/11/20. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served and the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to: The LLC, 1 Stoneleigh Plaza, Bronxville, New York 10708. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY NOTICE OF FORMATION of WIRED FOUNDATIONS LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) on 4/22/2020. Office Location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: WIRED FOUNDATIONS, LLC P.O. Box 8350, Pelham, NY 10803. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.
Notice of Formation of SHLUF LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/5/20. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 888 7th Ave., 4th Fl., NY, NY 10106, principal business address. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of Malone Services, LLC dba Purely Clean Services filed with SSNY on May 15, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 31 Parcot Ave. New Rochelle, NY. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of Trade Signal’s, LLC. Arts of Org filed with Sec. of State of NY on 5/20/20. Office Location: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and mail process to: c/o the LLC, 4218 Amboy Rd. SI, NY 10308. Purpose: any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of Yumin 11106, LLC filed with SSNY on March 11, 2020. Office: Kings County, NY. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to LLC: 2042 W 8th St Brooklyn, NY, 11223. Purpose: any lawful act or activity Notice of Formation of Too High Records, LLC filed with SSNY on March 26, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 24 Monument Walk, Apt 2B, Brooklyn, NY 11205. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.
LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM
PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com
May 25, 2020
PUBLIC NOTICE Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) proposes to collocate wireless communications antennas at a top height of 132 feet on a 149-foot building rooftop at the approx. vicinity of 135 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Laura Elston, l.elston@trileaf.com, 1395 South Marietta Parkway, Building 400, Suite 209, Marietta, GA 30067, 678653-8673 Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC) Name: 159 KANE ST., LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on April 27, 2020. Office Location: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: 175 Van Dyke Street, Brooklyn, New York 11231. Purpose: to engage in any and all business for which LLCs may be formed under the New York LLC law.
Notice of Formation of Bre Travel, LLC filed with SSNY on March 25, 2020. Office: Kings County. Sydney Baker designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 655 Macon Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11233. Purpose: any lawful act or activity Notice of Qualification of Marimatic Oy. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/13/2020. Office location: NY County. LLC organized in Finland (FI) on 9/6/1989. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. FI address of LLC: Pohjantahdentie 17, 01450 Vantaa, FI. Cert. of Org. filed with Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, Finnish Patent and Registration Office, Trade register, Sornaisten rantatie 13 C, 00530 Helsinki, FI. Purpose: all lawful purposes. LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM
LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM
Notice of qualification of Kabia & Santos LLP for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/08/20. Office location: NY County. LLP formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 01/05/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Regus, 77 Water St., 7th and 8th Fl, New York, NY 10005. NJ addr. of LLP: c/o Regus, 221 River St, 9th Fl, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of NJ, Dpt. of Treasury, Div. of Revenue and Enterprise Services., P.O. Box 628, Trenton, NJ 08625-0628. Purpose: Any lawful activity
LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM
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30 CityAndStateNY.com
May 25, 2020
CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson, Administrative Assistant Lauren Mauro
Who was up and who was down last week
CREATIVE Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton
LOSERS MICHAEL COHEN Well, it looks like the coronavirus crisis hasn’t been all that bad after all – for President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, that is. Due to medical concerns, Michael Cohen was released from prison on Thursday, in the middle of a threeyear sentence for campaign finance fraud and other crimes. However, Cohen’s release is only temporary until the state’s COVID-19 outbreak is contained, so the former fixer shouldn’t get too comfortable in his Manhattan abode.
OUR PICK
OUR PICK
WINNERS
Beaches are opening … with limited capacity. The Staten Island Ferry is ramping up service … but only during rush hour. Some businesses are opening up again … but only in portions of upstate. Things are easing up a bit, but New York is still very much in the middle of a pandemic. In the spirit of civic virtue, we are still PAUSEing our Winners & Losers at three each.
EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editor-in-Chief Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com, Managing Editor Ryan Somers, Senior Editor Ben Adler badler@cityandstateny.com, Special Projects Editor Alice Popovici, Deputy Editor Eric Holmberg, Senior Reporter Jeff Coltin jcoltin@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Zach Williams zwilliams@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Rebecca C. Lewis rlewis@cityandstateny.com, Tech & Policy Reporter Annie McDonough amcdonough@ cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Kay Dervishi, Associate Copy Editor Holly Pretsky
DIGITAL Project Manager Michael Filippi, Digital Content Manager Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, Digital Marketing Strategist Caitlin Dorman, Web/Email Strategist Isabel Beebe
CARMEN ARROYO & REBECCA SEAWRIGHT These two Assembly members were hanging on to their Democratic ballot lines for dear life – till New York’s highest court came and shook them off. Arroyo, a 26-year South Bronx incumbent, was kicked off the ballot for apparent petition forgery. And Seawright lost the Democratic nomination because she didn’t turn in some paperwork … and now might pave the way for Manhattan’s first Republican assemblyman in 20 years.
ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Vice President, Advertising and Client Relations Danielle Koza dkoza@cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillan-Grace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Legal Advertising Executive Shakirah Gittens legalnotices@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Assistant Zimam Alemenew EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez
Vol. 9 Issue 20 May 25, 2020
THE
THE REST OF THE WORST
LAURA CURRAN
ALAN ARMSTRONG
In a sign that Nassau County is beginning to turn a corner, county hospitals can resume non-coronavirus procedures, a day after the county executive appealed to Cuomo. Plus, she gets to keep NYC residents out of county beaches!
JASON MCGUIRE
Score one for the devout: Religious gatherings of up to 10 people can resume, thanks to Jason McGuire of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms – a group that lobbies on behalf of the “Lord Jesus Christ.” Though McGuire pointed out more than 10 people were at Cuomo’s announcement.
Corporate leaders have capitalized on friendly moves by government regulators during the pandemic, but the CEO of Williams Companies is out of luck after Cuomo effectively killed his pipeline.
NICK LALOTA
Nick LaLota was the GOP pick to run against state Sen. John Brooks in a Long Island swing seat, but he’s also a Suffolk election commissioner who would tally the results of his own election. Talk about conflict of interest. A state court booted him off the ballot. Then, the state’s highest court wouldn’t even hear the appeal.
WINNERS & LOSERS is published every Friday morning in City & State’s First Read email. Sign up for the email, cast your vote and see who won at cityandstateny.com.
THAT
Life stopped, but on June 23, democracy, uh, finds a way
TIME
CIT YANDSTATENY.COM
@CIT YANDSTATENY
May 25, 2020
Cover Algirdas Gelazius, flysnowfly/Shutterstock
CITY & STATE NEW YORK (ISSN 2474-4107) is published weekly, 48 times a year except for the four weeks containing New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas by City & State NY, LLC, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to City & State New York, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. General: (212) 268-0442, subscribe@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2020, City & State NY, LLC
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NEW YORK’S OTHER CRISIS DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: MENTAL HEALTH JUNE 2, 2020 - 2:00-3:00PM EST Whether it’s loneliness, grief, depression, or even panic attacks that mimic the symptoms of the disease itself, the coronavirus has placed a substantial mental burden on New Yorkers, creating a second major public health crisis alongside the deadly pandemic. The issue is also a national one, with the stimulus package passed in March allocating resources for mental health, substance use and suicide prevention programs. How can New Yorkers be helped? What services are being offered? Join the below panelists to discuss.
PA N E LI STS I N C LU D E
ANN MARIE T. SULLIVAN Commissioner, New York State Office of Mental Health
SUSAN HERMAN Senior Advisor to the Mayor and Director, Mayor’s Office of ThriveNYC
DIANA AYALA New York City Council Member, Chair, Committee on Health, Mental Disabilities and Addiction
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