By Gus Saltonstall
Eli Northrup, a candidate for the State Assembly District 69 seat, landed a major endorsement on Tuesday.
Incumbent Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell, who is stepping down after 22 years of representing the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights, has endorsed Northrup to succeed him in the elected position.
“Eli is not just prepared to represent the 69th district — he is uniquely positioned to serve it with the depth of understanding and empathy it deserves,” said O’Donnell, in a news release. “His work as a public defender has shown time and again that he knows what it means to be a true public servant — someone who serves the entire public, regardless of their background or circumstances.”
O’Donnell, like Northrup, was a public defender before starting his career as an elected official.
“Similar to my own path, Eli has taken on the challenging yet fulfilling role of a public defender—standing up for people at their most vulnerable and serving the community with compassion,” O’Donnell added. “Eli’s dedication to defending the rights of the underserved and his commitment to justice are more than just words – they are actions that define his career and character.”
Northrup said he was “honored” to receive the endorsement.
“Danny has been a champion for this community for over two decades. He is both a trailblazer and an institution,” Northrup said in the news release. “As the first openly gay Assemblymember in New York State, his historic leadership in passing the Marriage Equality Act would have been enough to secure his legacy.”
“But Danny’s record of fighting for marginalized people goes beyond his advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community,” he continued. “For years he has served as a bulwark for the basic rights and civil liberties of those facing our system of mass incarceration.”
Northrup securing O’Donnell’s endorsement adds another component to an already competitive Democratic primary. Up until this point in the campaign, Northrup’s opponent, Micah Lasher, the former policy director to Kathy Hochul and the frontrunner in the race, had landed the entirety of endorsements from other Upper West Side and Morningside Heights elected officials.
Northrup can now add the O’Donnell endorsement to a list that includes the Working Families Party and the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club.
In the coming days, West Side Rag will publish our interviews with Northrup and Lasher, as well as fellow candidate Melissa Rosenberg. Those articles will also include the full list of endorsements for each candidate.
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Thank you. Who is going to be the least “woke” (I hate the word but it is necessary here) and have their top priorities be crime, getting those with mental health issues off the streets/subways and into places where they can truly be helped, electric bikes, and other quality of life issues? As well as helping the neighborhood deal with problems that will likely arise from congestion pricing?
The topics O’Donnell mentions, though core to my belief system, are not what someone should be campaigning on today.
I would appreciate WSR asking questions about the topics I suggested – I am not alone on this. Thank you for your coverage.
You are not alone, but outside the WSR comments section conservative beliefs are a small minority in our neighborhood and candidates focusing on the issues you mention never get more than 10% or so of the vote. I hope those topics are not the focus of coverage!
Yep. The caterwauling you see online never translates to UWS politics because….I dunno, the rest of the neighborhood is actually progressive.
Bu hey, you’ve always got the WSR comment section
These are not conservative beliefs. Most of those commenting here are Democrats who are well to the left of most of America. It just shows how ridiculously far to the left many of our neighbors are.
And their far left views are click bait for Murdoch and his people and motivate them to get out to vote. If people would moderate their message a bit and be more realistic we might have a chance to beat Trump. But these ridiculous litmus tests that keep drawing Biden to the far left are only hurting us. But heaven forbid anyone compromise a bit.
That will change when Gale Brewer is not on the ballot. Sometimes elected officials need several election cycles to get it.
I ask the same questions Carlos asks. At this point my main desire for a candidate is not someone who will fight to keep perps out of Rikers and so on. I want someone who will stand for the rights of citizens of all designations, including LGBT, but who will prioritize public safety. An Assembly member who will fight for enforcement of law in all its implications – for citizens who are being attacked by reckless E-bikers, criminals, crazies, addicts, bored teens, gang members seeking cred, whatever. Enough of the chaos. And yes, I agree that the chaos is less than in the days of the crack epidemic, but we need to protect ALL our citizens.
And direct taxpayer money to services for taxpayers, not to handouts for illegal aliens from wherever.
Adding; someone sent me a statement by Eli Northrup, in which Northrup says that public safety is his #1 priority. But then Northrup says this:
”
With respect to Rikers; it costs $1500/night to detain a person at Rikers Island. There are currently over 6,000 individuals incarcerated there, which is the largest number since 2019. This increase in the population has not led to a reduction in crime. I believe money spent on public safety should actually make us safer, and would pursue solutions that do.”
I couldn’t find the above on Northrup’s website, but there was a lot there about pursuing the goal of decarceration. I didn’t find specifics on how N thinks he’ll help increase public safety except that he wants a “data-driven” approach.
Northrup’s arguments about Rikers seem poor. The people in Rikers were not on the street committing crimes during the time of their stint at Rikers. Northrup doesn’t say anything about whether criminals are the more emboldened, the less the likelihood that they’ll be put in jail to await trial if arrested. And by Northrup’s logic, it would seem that few should be in Rikers while awaiting trial. It would be better for violent criminals to be on the streets until their trial date? I don’t get it.
No Hochul cronies – and please keep with O’Donnell’s voting record that seems to trigger soooo many of the commenters on here
I took a look at Eli Northrup’s website. He comes across as just another woke progressive recycling old lefty platitudes.
The UWS truly needs fresh ideas and moderate politicians.
I hate to be a buzz kill but I couldn’t care less who Danny O’Donnell endorses. I’ve lived in this district for many years and have never seen him once in person. He just sends out flyers on the taxpayer dime from time to time and considers that representation.
Agreed, I’ve had two interactions with O’Donnell when I lived in his district and they weren’t positive. He’s been running on inertia for years, and his endorsement wouldn’t mean anything to me if I still lived in the area.
I have the same question as Carlos, first comment. What are their policies? Crime, business, mental health, reduce red tape to build housing supply, actually improving the neighborhood? Yes, good to focus on LGBTQ+ rights but in today’s NYC that is far from the top priority… This disconnection from reality is fostering Trump and co.
Northrup’s website talks about affordable housing. Does anyone know where he stands on changes to zoning? Does he support City of Yes or Open NY?
YIMBY politics are AWFUL for affordability and very, very clearly astroturf. Nice try to mask it as ‘affordability’ – it’s a developer backed movement and ahas been from the start
It does not matter one whit whether Daniel O’Donnell endorsed Eli Northrup or not. O’Donnell has been, as far as I can tell, an absent elected official who is so far disconnected from the actual electorate of the area (see the following article — his office is literally on West 104th street across the street from this dangerous eye-sore) that his tenure has been less than fruitful. (Thank You for sending out the annual Alternate Side of The Street Parking Calendar in your “newsletter” funded by taxpayer funds.)
Eli and/or Micah — We do not need another person to do the same. We need someone who will look out for the actual constituents who pay your wages, not esoteric, pie-in-the-sky initiatives that offer nothing more than platitudes and virtue signaling.
Northrup seems stuck up, just like most people at The Bronx Defenders. Who uses campaign photos with arms crossed? I love Danny but don’t think his endorsement will sway me.
Speaking as one of your conservative neighbors: I’m registered as a Republican so don’t get a say in the primaries, which is fine. For all I might comment here, that’s still up to the democrats. Pick a good one!
If you feel your quality of life has improved, then vote for the endorsed candidate.
It is as simple as that,
My kids went to elementary school with Lasher’s kids. They are a lovely family who care deeply about the community. I don’t know enough about the position to know if he’ll be a difference maker, or even if anyone can be a difference maker. But his heart is in the right place so I’ll give him a chance.
Assemblymember O’Donnell
was supportive of our public schools, reform to prison system, funding for the arts. His staff worked successfully to redraw district lines to include a few left out blocks in the last census-based redraw.
We need to know what city electeds are responsible for and what state legislators are responsible for.
And, yes, ask the candidates these questions : what are the the two efforts that can be changed by the state legislature that you plan to pursue and what concrete steps have you identified to achieve success?
We need to know the candidates’ practical vision to achieve AND that they are able to work with colleagues.
I’ve heard one AD69 candidate characterized as someone who comes to meetings full of his own plans but uninterested in hearing from colleagues: that’s not what we need in a legislator!
Be sure to read the WSR interviews with the AD69 candidates.
Thank you West Side Rag!
Oh, these comments sections are so delightful. I especially like the person who thinks that LGBTQ issues, unjust incarceration policies, housing rights, and other progressive policies don’t matter to “the actual constituents who pay your wages”. For all of these commenters to be able to decry left-leaning policies just shows how much privilege they have. You’re lucky that you’ve never had anyone try to criminalize your life because of your race, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status.