Upper West Side City Council Race: Where Things Stand

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — With five weeks remaining until the June 22 primary elections, the stage is set for a competitive finish to the Upper West Side's open City Council race.

Six Democrats are running to replace term-limited incumbent Helen Rosenthal in District 6. The candidates are vying to become the main representatives for the nearly 300,000 people that live on the Upper West Side.

In the coming weeks, Patch will publish the results of question-and-answer forms sent to each candidate, shedding light on each person's policy priorities.

With no polling available for the race, it is impossible to know how each campaign is faring. A look at fundraising and endorsements, however, can provide some clues.

The Candidates

First, a brief recap of who is running in the Democratic primary:

Gale Brewer, the Manhattan Borough President and the former City Council 6 representative, Maria Danzilo, a lawyer and 40-year-resident of the Upper West Side, David Gold, a lawyer, nonprofit leader, and lifelong Upper West Sider, Sara Lind, a lawyer, activist and Community Board 7 member, Jeffrey Omura, an artist, activist, and labor union leader, and Zack Weiner, a screenwriter, actor, and lifelong Upper West Sider.

Follow The Money

As she has for much of the campaign, Lind leads the money race in District 6, but not by much. Lind has raised more than $216,000 combined, including $55,569 in private donations and $160,400 in matching public funds, according to the latest disclosures. Her campaign has also spent $79,184 — $30,000 more than the next District 6 candidate.

The fundraising race is a close one, though.

1. Lind: $216,013
2. Brewer: $208,191
3. Omura: $208,074
4. Danzilo: $196,338
5. Gold: $86,313
6. Weiner: $8,016

Lind also had the most amount of money raised in private donations at over $55,000, slightly more than Brewer and Omura's totals of around $47,000.

In terms of total donations made to the campaign, Lind and Omura are far outpacing the rest of the field. Omura leads the pack with 769 donations, then Lind with 657 donations, Danzilo with 378 donations, Brewer with 343 donations, Gold with 186 donations, and Weiner with 15 donations.

Brewer has the highest average donation at $136.

No other candidate has an average donation of over $100, but Lind and Danzilo are at $95 and $84, respectively.

Lind and Omura also have the most amount of donations made to their campaigns from residents outside of District 6, with the other four candidates receiving nearly all of their fundraising money from the Upper West Side.

With that being said, Lind and Omura are still receiving the majority of their money from local residents.

Danzilo has raised the most amount of money from residents living within the three main Upper West Side ZIP codes — 10023, 10024, and 10025. Her $28,040 total edges out Brewer's $26,479 of fundraising in the three ZIP codes.

Who Is Endorsing Who?

Gale Brewer Major Endorsements: The West Side Democrats, the Broadway Democrats, the Three Parks Democrats, 504 Dems, Stonewall Democrats of NYC, the Tenants PAC, the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, New York State Nurses Association, United Federation of Teachers, The Jewish Vote, Planned Parenthood of Greater NY Votes, SEUI 32BJ, Teamsters Local 237, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, State Senator Jose Serrano

Maria Danzilo Major Endorsements: New Yorkers United For Change, The Police Benevolent Society of the City of New York

David Gold Major Endorsements: n/a

Sara Lind Major Endorsements: The Jewish Vote, Former Speak Melissa Mark-Viverito, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Run For Something 2021, Open New York, 21 In '21

Jeffrey Omura Major Endorsements: The League of Independent Theater, Victory Fund, Resilience Builder 2021, Grassroots Law Projects

Zach Weiner Major Endorsements: n/a

Here are the campaign websites for each District 6 candidate:

• Gale Brewer
• Maria Danzilo
• David Gold
• Sara Lind
• Jeffrey Omura
• Zach Weiner

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.