Generally Speaking: A bevy of candidates vying for City Council seats

January 8, 2021 Theodore W. General

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The party primary on June 22 and the general election on Nov. 2 will feature one of the largest groups of contenders for City Council in recent memory. However, due to a City Charter measure, the term of office will only be for two years. Then the lucky incumbents and others will have to do it over again for another two-year term. If they win both terms, they will be eligible to run for a full four-year term. Of course, other future candidates will also have the option of running for the four-year term in 2025. The base salary of a City Council member is $148,500.

Despite record municipal deficits, public campaign financing (courtesy of your tax dollars, folks!) will be available to eligible candidates with an up to $8-to-$1 match.

In any event, space limitations preclude us from mentioning all the Brooklyn City Council contenders, so we’re focusing here on the current crop of candidates running in Southern Brooklyn. They are:

33rd District (incumbent Stephen Levin): Elizabeth Adams, Victoria Cambranes, Steven Finley, Sabrina Gates, Lincoln Restler, Stuart Sherman, April Somboun, Benjamin Solotaire, Glomani Bravo-Lopez and Toba Potosky.

38th District (incumbent Carlos Menchaca): Rodrigo Camarena, Erik Frankel, Samuel Sierra, Jacqueline Painter, Alexa Aviles, Yu Lin, Whitney Hu, Victor Swinton and Cesar Zuniga.

39th District (incumbent Brad Lander): Jennifer DeLuca, Shahana Hanif, Mamnunul Haq, Nicole Hunt, Justin Krebs, Patricia Johnson, Steven Packer, Bridget Rein, Douglas Schneider and Brandon West.

43rd District: incumbent Justin Brannan running for re-election, no apparent opposing candidate has been announced.

46th District (incumbent Alan Maisel): Gardy Brazela, Donald Cranston, Zuri Jackson, Mercedes Narcisse, Judy Newton, Shirley Paul, Tiffany Tucker-Pryor and Dimple Willabus.

47th District (incumbent Mark Treyger): Alec Brook-Krasny, Ari Kagan, Steven Patzer and Joseph Packer

48th District (incumbent Chaim Deutsch): Steven Saperstein, Harold Tischler, Inna Vernikov, Boris Noble and Amber Adler. As we move closer to primary day others may jump in.

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A blast from the past! Former City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Sal Albanese is running again for council, this time in Staten Island’s 50th District. Albanese ran for mayor against Bill DeBlasio and Nicole Malliotakis in 2017; ran for Congress against Susan Molinari in 1998; and served four consecutive terms in the council representing Bay Ridge beginning in 1983.