Council District 3 Race Update: Law-Gisiko Survives Ballot Challenge

An attempt to knock Layla Law-Gisiko off the ballot in the special election race for City Council District 3 has been denied by the NYC Board of Elections, although three less high-profile candidates were also banned from competing further after not collecting enough signatures.

The challenge was filed by Jay Schnaffer, a supporter of Lindsay Boylan and one of Law-Gisiko’s main opponents in the race, the blog W42St first reported. Election day for the district, which mainly encompasses the Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and a part of Greewich Villageis on April 27.

Law-Gisiko is running as an avowed opponent of large development projects, such as the proposed overhaul of the Fulton & Chelsea-Elliott Houses. She has been notably endorsed by District Council Member Christopher Marte, who represents Lower Manhattan.

Boylan was the first woman to accuse former Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment in 2020, which led to his eventual resignation after numerous other women came forward with similar accusations. Cuomo continues to deny wrongdoing.

Schnaffer is described in an unrelated post on Boylan’s Threads social media account as a “former trade unionist” and “Penn South resident,” who endorsed her for what he called her ability to meet “the challenges of OUR TIMES.”

According to the rules of the special election, none of the candidates can run under the banner of the Democratic or Republican parties, and Schnaffer had argued that Law-Gisiko’s ballot name of “Affordable NYC” was “impermissible”—due to another election rule that he argued prohibits candidates from using the term “NYC” in such a name.

At a March 10 meeting of the Board of Elections, a representative for Law-Gisiko said that the rule being cited by Schaffer banned the following words on a ballot line: “American,” “United States,” “National,” “New York State,” “Independence,” “Independent,” and “Empire State.”

“‘NYC’ is not one of the prohibited terms,” the representative said. A representative for Schaffer, meanwhile, argued that ballot rules prevent candidates from using names that “[deceive] voters...by using names that imply the imprimatur of officialdom.”

In fact, the BOE ruled that Boylan will need to change her ballot name of “Affordable City,” because its inclusion of “Affordable” was too similar to Law-Gisiko’s ballot name, which had been registered first.

The Board of Elections declined to remove her from the ballot. W42St pointed out that she had accrued 1,816 valid signatures, far exceeding the 450 needed to qualify.

Three more candidates—Haris Bhatti, Jamin Enquist, and Emily YueXin Miller—did not meet the 450-signature requirement, and were struck from the ballot.

After surviving the ballot challenge, which she called “nasty” on social media, Law-Gisiko held a March 11 rally with her supporters; Council Member Christopher Marte was in attendance.

“They were trying to kick ‘Affordable NYC’ off the ballot at a moment when people across this city are being priced out of their homes,” Marte said.

Before it was clear that she’d survive the ballot challenge, Jack Schlossberg—the Democratic influencer, and grandson of John F. Kennedy, who is running for the Manhattan congressional seat that the retiring Jerry Nadler is vacating—also voiced support for her in an online post: “Law-Gisiko being kicked off the ballot is no less than VOTER SUPPRESSION for a champion of public housing.”

“Insiders in this town are broken people,” he added.

The special election will fill the vacancy left by now-State Senator Erik Bottcher’s ascension to Albany, after he served one term—and a brief amount of a second one—in the City Council district. Bottcher has endorsed the candidate Carl Wilson, his chief of staff during his time in the City Council, for the seat.

After the March 11 Board Elections Meeting, four candidates now remain in the race: Law-Gisiko, Boylan, Wilson, and Community Board 4 Chair Leslie Boghosian Murphy.