The Daily Dirt: Sizing up the City Council races

Every City Council seat is up for grabs, but only a few races are actually competitive.

And among those, some have captured the attention of construction unions and real estate groups.

One is for Bronx Council member Marjorie Velázquez’s seat. The New York City District Council of Carpenters has come out swinging for the incumbent, who changed her stance on the Bruckner Boulevard rezoning after securing a promise from the developer to hire union carpenters. The union’s political director, Kevin Elkins, told the City in May, “Jesus Christ could have come in for an interview and we’d still pick Marjorie.”

After the primary, the union’s political action committee continued funding mailers and ads supporting Velázquez and bashing her Republican opponent, Kristy Marmarato. For her part, Marmarato has criticized Velázquez’s support of the rezoning, which allowed for a mixed-use project.

The laborers’ union, Local 79, backed Velázquez as well as Council member Sandra Ung, who is defending her District 20 seat in Queens against Republican Yu-Ching James Pai. A coalition of other unions, including 32BJ SEIU, the Hotel Trades Council, DC37, the New York State Nurses Association and the Communications Workers of America, has spent more than $260,000 on mailers, fliers and calls supporting Velázquez and nearly $160,000 for Ung.

In Brooklyn, Council member Justin Brannan is facing a tough contest against Council member Ari Kagan, who jumped to the GOP. Jobs for New York, a PAC funded by the Real Estate Board of New York, spent $32,755 on fliers supporting Brannan. The unions have also backed the Democrat.

Yusef Salaam, one of the Central Park Exonerated Five, is running unopposed for Council member Kristin Richardson Jordan’s Harlem seat. Pro-development group Open New York endorsed Salaam for his support of pro-housing zoning reform and good cause eviction. Salaam told City & State in August that he would negotiate with Bruce Teitelbaum to figure out a path forward for the developer’s One45 project.

The state controls a lot of things that govern real estate (the multiple dwelling law being the big one), but the City Council has the power to kill rezonings and pass legislation that negatively affects property owners, developers and brokers.

What we’re thinking about: What will happen to the landmarked church at 165 West 86th Street? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: Warm autumn weather used to be called “goose summer” or gossamer. “These spells were notable for gossamer threads, the mass of fine spider webs which catch the sun in stubble fields on a bright autumn morning,” according to the Guardian. Goose summer is also referred to as “St. Martin’s Summer,” in relation to a legend in which St. Martin exacted revenge on a goose, leading to the tradition of eating goose on St. Martin’s Day, historically celebrated on Nov. 11.

Elsewhere in New York…

— Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Monday that her office seized more than 100 guns from an alleged interstate trafficking ring, Gothamist reports. Three men were hit with a 575-count indictment, including charges of criminal sale of firearms, criminal weapons possession, conspiracy and money laundering. Undercover officers bought 96 guns from the trio, during various meetups, many of which occurred in the parking lot of an appliance store on Steinway Street in Astoria.

— Former President Trump on Monday testified in the $250 million civil lawsuit against him, lashing out at the judge and state Attorney General Letitia James, CBS News reports. At one point, Judge Arthur Engoron admonished Trump for giving long answers to questions about the valuations of Trump Organization assets. “We got another speech. I beseech you to control him if you can,” the judge told Trump’s lawyers. “If you can’t, I will. I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can.” Trump has denied wrongdoing and said the suit is driven by politics.

— ICYMI: Hellen Obiri and Tamirat Tola won the women’s and men’s races, respectively, in the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Closing Time

Residential: The priciest residential closing Monday was $13.9 million for a condo at 2376 Broadway on the Upper West Side.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $6 million for 75 Oceana Drive East and 90 Oceana Drive West in Brighton Beach.

New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Monday was a condo at 16 West 40th Street in Midtown South asking $18.5 million. Corcoran Group has the listing.

Breaking Ground: The largest new building filing of the day was for a 4,000-square-foot residential building at 544 Warwick Street in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Citiscape Consulting filed the permit application.

— Jay Young