Outside Spending In West Village Council Race Creates Backlash

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A disclosure last week revealed that a real estate-backed, pro-business super PAC is backing Erik Bottcher for City Council in Lower Manhattan. Other candidates in the race quickly seized on the disclosure to release a joint statement condemning the expenditure and Bottcher swiftly denounced the PAC's support.

Let's break it down.

Thursday's disclosure revealed that Voters of NYC has spent $13,107 in support of Bottcher's campaign for City Council District 3, one of the six Democrats running to represent the West Village, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Midtown, Hell's Kitchen, and other parts of Lower Manhattan.

Voters of NYC has spent $107,037 on this year's Council races, backing five other candidates besides Bottcher.

In Bottcher's case, the spending covered mailers sent out last week that trumpeted his work fighting for better schools, more parks, quality services to senior centers, and his work during the pandemic. It also gave a reminder that early voting was starting soon.

All six candidates in the City Council District 3 race had reportedly promised not to accept any money from real estate or corporate PAC groups. This, however, is made difficult by the fact that candidates have no say in which outside groups choose to support them with expenditures.

Bottcher released a statement on his website Friday denouncing the expenditure.

“I denounce this independent expenditure and I am calling on its funders to halt all spending immediately. This isn’t something I’ve asked for, it’s not something I know anything about, and I want it to stop," Bottcher said. "From day one, our campaign hasn’t accepted a dime from real estate developers, anyone who works at a lobbying firm, or corporate PACs."

You can read the full statement on his website.

Bottcher's comment was followed on Saturday by a joint statement from the five other District 3 City Council candidates denouncing the $13,000 expenditure by the real estate PAC in support of Bottcher.

The candidates are Arthur Schwartz, Aleta LaFargue, Marni Halasa, Leslie Boghosian Murphy and Phelan Dante Fitpatrick.

"Mega-developers believe Bottcher is their best bet to continue the proliferation of high-rises and the accompanying astronomical rents that have many in the neighborhood fearing for their ability to afford to stay," the joint statement read.

"The fight for affordable housing is one of the most important missions of my life. I thought that
everyone in this race shared that vision, unfortunately, I was wrong," said LaFargue.

"His experience has done nothing for rent-stabilized tenants being squeezed out and folks in NYCHA housing, whose buildings only deteriorated more during Bottcher's time in city government," said Schwartz.

Bottcher also tweeted about it on Sunday.

Some billionaires spread money around on an independent expenditure in 28 Council races, including ours. Clearly they thought they’d curry favor w/ me if I won. Well, they’re dead wrong. I condemned it & demanded that its funders halt all spending immediately. My statement: pic.twitter.com/FT5agtcRbw
— Erik Bottcher (@ebottcher) June 14, 2021