UES Council Rep Endorses 2 Candidates In Competitive Primary

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Upper East Side City Councilmember Keith Powers announced Friday that he is endorsing two candidates in the neighborhood’s competitive District 5 race: Kim Moscaritolo and Julie Menin.

Powers’s dual endorsement, shared exclusively with Patch, comes just days before the June 22 primary election, in which seven Democrats are vying to replace term-limited Ben Kallos. It makes him one of the highest-ranking officials in the neighborhood to voice a preference in the primary.

Powers is himself unopposed for re-election in neighboring District 4, which runs along the Central Park side of the neighborhood and down into Midtown. District 5 covers the eastern side of the neighborhood as well as Roosevelt Island.

Powers told Patch that he has worked with both Moscaritolo and Menin in past years. 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.

"I am confident Julie and Kim will be ready to deliver results on day one—they are exactly who we need in the Council during our city’s recovery," Powers said in a statement.

Other prominent East Side leaders who have issued District 5 endorsements include State Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright — both of whom are supporting Moscaritolo and Tricia Shimamura.

The double-endorsement trend takes advantage of the city's new ranked-choice voting system, which allows New Yorkers to rank up to five candidates in each race. Powers, like Krueger and Seawright, did not say which of the two candidates should be ranked first, saying only that voters should "rank them at the top of your ballots."

Conspicuously absent from the endorsement game has been Kallos, who reiterated to Patch this week that he liked all of the candidates but did not plan to publicly support anyone to replace him.

"I’m very excited to vote for any and all of them," said Kallos, who is himself running for Manhattan Borough President. "I’m sad I will only have five votes between the seven of them."

Moscaritolo and Menin both said they were "honored" to get Powers's endorsement, citing his advocacy for small businesses and prominence in the neighborhood.

Despite the shared support, the two candidates are hardly allies in the race: on Thursday, Moscaritolo accused Menin of "being propped up by Republican billionaires," while noting that her own campaign has received the most contributions from within the district.

Endorsement roundup

Here's a brief rundown of who's supporting who in the District 5 race.

As mentioned earlier, Moscaritolo and Shimamura both have the support of Krueger and Seawright — as well as former District 5 Councilmember Jessica Lappin, who encouraged voters to rank Moscaritolo first and Shimamura second.

Shimamura is also backed by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, her former boss, as well as Councilmember Helen Rosenthal and former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger. Moscaritolo's other endorsers include Indivisible East Side, State Sens. Jessica Ramos and José M. Serrano, and former Assemblymember Pete Grannis.

Billy Freeland has secured the endorsement of the Stonewall Democrats, and enjoys the joint support of UES Progressives and a number of transportation advocates. He has made a cross-endorsement with fellow candidate Rebecca Lamorte, who is herself supported by a cohort of labor unions, New York Communities for Change and former gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon.

Menin's endorsers include big names like U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, Adriano Espaillat and Nydia Velázquez, Councilmembers Diana Ayala and Carlina Rivera, three Upper East Side district leaders and a swath of labor unions, including the United Federation of Teachers, SEIU 32BJ and the New York State Nurses Association.

Sosa's backers include Brooklyn Councilmember Carlos Menchaca, former congressional candidate Lauren Ashcraft and a number of animal rights groups.

Sosa, Freeland, Lamorte, Shimamura and Moscaritolo all earned the support of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's "Courage to Change" PAC.

Tamayo's website makes no mention of endorsements.

The City Council primary election will be held on June 22, with early voting from June 12–20. Find your polling place here.

Previous District 5 election coverage:

• Big Bucks Pour Into Upper East Side Council Race As Primary Nears
• Outside Spending In Upper East Side Council Race Draws Scrutiny
• Here's Where The Upper East Side Candidates Stand On Your Issues
• UES Council Candidates Face Off In Person: Important Takeaways