Most major city elections aren’t for more than a year, but the politicking and fundraising has already begun in a big way on the Upper West Side. Two Democratic community board members are already in the running to replace Gale Brewer as the Upper West Side’s representative in the City Council. And Brewer has begun to hint that she’ll be running for Manhattan Borough President. Meanwhile Borough President Scott Stringer is focused on the mayor’s race. Most importantly, he has Scarlett Johansson on his side.
Mel Wymore, who recently ended his term as Community Board 7 Chair is in the running to fill Brewer’s council seat, and has raised $64,381, according to a filing this week. The cash haul was three times as big as any council candidate in the city, according to Jordan Jacobs, Wymore’s campaign manager. (Of course, it’s still very early.)
Perusing the filing, I see contributions from some bicycling advocates in the neighborhood like Lisa Sladkus and Tila Duhaime (Mel is a strong proponent of bike lanes), as well as some from other Community Board members like Hope Cohen. In addition, Mel also got a nice donation from a hotshot in the local restaurant community: John Fraser, the owner of Dovetail, gave him $250, according to the filing. Also listed is Leonard Litwin, who gave $2,000. Litwin is a Manhattan real estate developer who was listed at #891 on the world’s richest people list at Forbes in 2007 and is a prolific donor in New York politics. We are trying to get confirmation that the two men are who we think they are. (update: confirmed Litwin and Fraser are who we think they are.)
Helen Rosenthal, another former CB7 chair, had expected to run for Brewer’s seat in 2009, but ended her run after term limit rules were overturned and Brewer decide to run again. Upper West Press, an anonymous blog that dishes on local politics (I know who runs it but have been sworn to secrecy. I consider the person reliable.) notes that Rosenthal has a lot of support from local parents and education activists. She and her husband have also self-financed to the tune of $11,000. Rosenthal took in a total of $6,910 in the period, and after including all the money she raised in advance of her 2009 run, she has $60,441 in her account. Rosenthal is also supported by a hotshot restauranteur: according to her 2009 filing, Danny Meyer, of Shake Shack fame, gave her $2,750 (Meyer lives around Gramercy Park, not the UWS). Doug Griebel of Rosa Mexicano also donated $2,500 to Rosenthal.
Both candidates have qualified for city matching funds, which would double their money. The West Side Spirit recently profiled Wymore here and Rosenthal here. We’ll also be writing more about them and some other likely council candidates in the coming months.
We’ll keep digging through the filings, which you can do too here. If you see anything email us!
Cash photo by stevendepolo via flickr.
Litwin has been confirmed as the developer- on Wymore’s CFB filing, he self-reported as the President of “Glenwood” (Management)