City Comptroller & Manhattan Borough Prez. Races Heat Up
With current Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine reportedly considering a bid for the City Comptroller position, which itself is being vacated by Brad Lander so he can run for mayor, both roles have a slew of new aspirants hoping to replace the two men in 2025.
When current City Comptroller Brad Lander announced a challenge against Mayor Eric Adams going into next year’s election, he indicated that his own job would be up for grabs. Now, with Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine filing paperwork in preparation to fill Lander’s role, it appears that he may be leaving his own seat vacant.
In other words, aspirants to two of NYC’s most prominent positions will be playing an electoral game of musical chairs. A number of Manhattan politicians have said that they are strongly considering a run for the Borough President role, and term-limited City Council Member Keith Powers–who represents the Upper East Side and Stuyvesant Town–has formally declared his bid.
If and when he makes his plans official, Levine would have two challengers (so far) in the City Comptroller race: Queens State Assembly member Jenifer Rajkumar and Brooklyn City Councilmember Justin Brannan.
City Comptroller, which comes in second in the mayoral line of succession–similar to the nation’s Vice President position at the federal level–is the city’s most powerful financial position. For one thing, the Comptroller is responsible for the city’s public pension plans, which Lander has said currently amounts to about $274 billion. They also audit city agencies, review contracts, and issue bonds.
Rajkumar, an ally of Mayor Adams that represents the Woodhaven and Rego Parts neighborhoods in Queens, formally entered the Comptroller race on August 12. In an announcement video, she said that she was running for the role to “make New York affordable for everyone.”
Rajkumar also may have to contend with a new City & State report, which describes her using staffers to “infiltrate” rival campaigns during a 2016 primary for an Assembly seat in Lower Manhattan. The publication notes that this may have very well violated the ethics code of NY’s Board of Elections.
Brannan, who represents Bay Ridge, started a website when he announced his run on August 14. He notes that he’s running on a platform of: fully funding CUNY and universal child care, creating pay parity for EMS workers who have been without a contract for over a year, maintaining clean streets and open libraries, and providing services to homeless people.
The Borough President role also comes with important responsibilities, particularly in the realm of appointments. Whoever would replace Levine would have the power of choosing who serves on Manhattan’s 12 community boards, and would also be responsible for appointments to the city’s Board of Education and Planning Commission.
In the website he created for his campaign, Powers describes himself as a “champion on housing issues.” A former member of the Stuyvesant Town Tenants Association and Community Board 6, Powers specified that his housing wins include: helping secure rent-stabilization for Stuy Town & Peter Cooper Village residents, spearheading a rezoning of Midtown South that prioritized office-to-residential conversions, and successfully negotiating a rent decrease for the Kips Bay residents of the Waterside Plaza development.
He’s also drawing attention to his fights against unregulated e-bike battery fires, the ugly persistence of long-term scaffolding, and animal abuse.
Other notable Manhattan pols, such as State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and State Assembly Member Alex Bores, have indicated that they may consider jumping in the race for Manhattan B.P. later.
Bores confirmed to Straus News that he’s focused on the 2024 election cycle for now, but may change his mind on running for the role as 2025 rolls around.