Keith Powers Re-Elected To Upper East Side City Council Seat

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Keith Powers was re-elected on Tuesday to a second term representing the Upper East Side on the City Council: an unsurprising result, since he was running unopposed.

Powers has represented District 4 — which runs along the Central Park side of the neighborhood and down into Midtown — since 2018.

A far more competitive race is playing out in neighboring District 5, which covers the eastern side of the neighborhood as well as Roosevelt Island, and where seven Democrats are running to succeed term-limited Ben Kallos.

Powers himself got involved in that race late last week, throwing his support behind two candidates: Kim Moscaritolo and Julie Menin.

Powers said he was endorsing the two women because he had worked with them both and was confident that they could "deliver results on day one." Another unspoken factor in the endorsement may be that Powers is reportedly planning a run for City Council Speaker next year, a position that will be voted on by the Council's new members.

Powers was elected to the District 4 seat in 2017 to succeed Dan Garodnick. He previously served as chief of staff for Assemblymember Jonathan Bing, a committee chair on Community Board 6 and vice president of a political consulting firm.

Because of a quirk in the city charter, the next Council terms will be only two years long instead of the usual four, forcing all of the candidates elected on Tuesday to run again in 2023.