Harlem Council Candidates Attack Rival Over Outside Spending

HARLEM, NY — A City Council candidate in Upper Manhattan is on the defensive after opponents questioned why his campaign has received thousands of dollars in support from outside groups aligned with real estate developers and wealthy business owners.

Shaun Abreu is a leading contender among the 12 Democrats running in the June 22 primary to succeed Mark Levine in District 7, which covers West Harlem and Hamilton Heights, Morningside Heights, and parts of Washington Heights and the Upper West Side.

Abreu, a tenants' rights lawyer and former community board member, enjoys the support of Levine, among others in the neighborhood.

In recent weeks, however, his campaign has also been boosted by "Voters of NYC," a PAC supported by the developers Silverstein Properties and WLZ Properties; as well as a pro-charter schools group, "New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany," whose largest donors are Walmart heiress Alice Walton and hedge fund magnate Paul Tudor Jones.

The schools group spent $40,915 on a series of online video ads in English and Spanish that praise Abreu as "one of us" and describe his advocacy for tenants. Voters of NYC spent $26,766 on two mailers, including one describing his "Quality of Life Plan" for NYPD funding, cleaner streets and "solving homelessness."

All told, Abreu's campaign has gotten $191,820 of outside backing — more than all but three other Council candidates citywide. The majority of Abreu's support has come from pro-labor groups affiliated with unions that have endorsed him.

Five rivals for the District 7 seat, who already formed a ranked-choice alliance that excludes Abreu, attacked the outside spending in a joint statement Thursday.

"For Shaun Abreu to be silent as he allows Republican billionaires to attempt to buy him a seat on the City Council is disqualifying," said the candidates, Corey Ortega, Maria Ordoñez, Stacy Lynch, Dan Cohen and Marti Allen-Cummings. "Our votes are not for sale. The residents of our neighborhoods must be prioritized over wealthy developers."

Abreu, like other candidates, has no say in which outside groups choose to support his campaign, though the other candidates called on him to publicly condemn the spending.

In a statement, Phillip Jerez, Abreu's senior advisor, told Patch that Abreu is "an unequivocal supporter of campaign finance reform, which is the only way to prevent special interests from attempting to interfere in elections."

Noting that most of the spending has come from pro-labor groups, Jerez called Abreu "the worker rights candidate in the District 7 race" and described how he had been evicted from his home as a child.

"No amount of spending from developers could in any way influence his commitment to housing justice," Jerez said.

The influx of outside spending in the final days before the election has created headaches for other Council candidates, including Julie Menin on the Upper East Side and Carmen De La Rosa in Washington Heights, who publicly disavowed the support her own campaign has received from pro-development groups.

All told, most of the spending in the District 7 race has come from individual people, who have donated a combined $491,215 to the dozen candidates. That includes more than $84,000 in individual donations to Abreu's campaign — the most of any candidate.

Related District 7 City Council coverage:

• 5 Harlem Council Candidates Endorse Each Other In Unusual Move
• Here's Where West Harlem Candidates Stand On Your Issues
• Mark Levine Endorses Abreu In Upper Manhattan City Council Race