By Daniel Katzive
Primary night came and went with little fanfare on the Upper West Side. Elsewhere in the city, there were headlines to be made. Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated Central Park Five, won the primary for the New York City Council 9th District in Central Harlem with over 50% of the vote. Incumbent district attorneys in Queens and the Bronx easily fended off primary challenges.
But in City Council District 6, Gale Brewer passed through primary day unchallenged, and in District 7, which covers part of the Upper West Side north of 96th Street, the incumbent Shaun Abreu also faced no opponent. The Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, was elected in 2021 and does not face reelection until 2025. As a result, civic-minded Upper West Siders who dutifully checked their polling sites on the NYC Board of Elections website found the simple message “There is no Primary Election for this District.”
Both Brewer and Abreu will have their names on the ballot when we come to the general elections on November 7. According to the Manhattan Republican Party’s website, the candidate facing Gale Brewer for the District 6 seat in November will be Diane di Stasio, whose campaign website profile identifies her as the Managing Director for the Ellison Ballet Foundation and who puts crime and safety at the top of the issues she hopes to address. The Republican party website does not list a candidate for District 7. According to the Board of Elections website, the party committee has until July 27 to file a nomination.
Some Upper West Siders may be surprised to learn if and when they arrive to vote in November that they suddenly live in District 7 and not District 6. Gale Brewer is a ubiquitous presence throughout the Upper West Side and, as the former Manhattan Borough President, she has strong name recognition. But, while attendees at the 24th Precinct Community Council meetings know that Brewer attends and speaks there regularly, about half of that precinct, including the precinct station house itself, sits in Abreu’s District 7, which extends north up through Morningside, Hamilton and Washington Heights.
With redistricting going into effect, the demarcation line between District 6 and District 7 has shifted even further south this year. As the map above shows, Riverside Drive and West End Avenue north of 96th Street, as well as a few blocks east of Broadway south of 96th are now in District 7 rather than District 6. On the other end, District 6 has now gained a few blocks around Columbus Circle to the south.
Correction: We originally misstated the years of DA Alvin Bragg’s election and reelection. They are 2021 and 2025, respectively.
As the West Park fiasco nicely illustrates, Gale Brewer makes a lot of noise but is conspicuously absent when it comes to concrete action. I am also of the view that she is also on the wrong side of many issues, but your mileage may vary there.
It’s a shame for the UWS and for democratic accountability that there is no primary challenge for this seat.
The best hope the UWS has are the area workers in swing districts who have elected officials more in danger than Gale Brewer ever will be. A big reason why Queens/Nassau Counties had 2 GOP pickup congressional seats helping give the GOP a narrow 4 seat majority is because they live out there, come to Manhattan, are troubled by what they see and then go back to their home districts and punish their local politicians for it. Concerns about NYC crime are an example of this.
Yes, it would have been nice to have a Primary challenger for someone who has never actually held a job outside of politics. Someone so entrenched that she doesn’t have to do anything substantial to keep her seat. BUT WE, IN THE 6TH DISTRICT WILL HAVE A CHOICE IN NOVEMBER.
The problems of the City, the street crime, the subway crime, the homelessness, the safety of our elderly and children have crept into our once peaceful neighborhood. How great it would be to ride the subway without having to worry about being accosted by someone who should have had proper treatment long ago.
I appreciate that Ms. Brewer shows up on occasion just to say she was in attendance. But that is no longer enough.
We need action. We need someone who puts crime and the safety of our children, our elderly and our neighbors FIRST.
Perhaps it’s time for a change. Perhaps it’s time for Diane di Stasio. Someone shouldn’t just ASSUME because they are a Democrat that they own the seat. Or will voters continue to pull the same “lever” and get the same results?
Is Diane di Stasio explicitly on record as affirming LGBT rights? Equality among races?
If you were so sure of all this regarding Brewer, why are you hiding behind an anonymous name?
and why are you hiding behind an anyoymous name? anonymnity does not invalidate their opinion.
does this explain why i didn’t get my absentee ballot?
I think it does. I sent in the application anyway just in case, but realized there would be no primary for us, therefore no ballot.
thanks. i wish the boe were as informative as you are.
I have no idea what Sean Abreu is doing nor have I seen him at any events. That’s very different than Gale Brewer. A major issue she is trying to address is the explosion of e-vehicles injuring our UWS residents by riding on sidewalks, running through lights, riding the wrong way on our streets. Riders delivering food are getting quite abusive if you should ask them to not ride into you on the sidewalk! The fact is that there is no enforcement by the City or the NYPD. This is a serious problem that I have seen Brewer at least try to be involved with. No such thing from Abreu. And he ran unopposed?
? Puzzled by your comment.
I called her office about the bikes on the sidewalk ( regular bikes, electric bikes and now motorcycles) and spoke to a lovely woman who told me that I needed to reach out to the community board.
When I told her that the community board was appointed and not elected, and I was reaching out to my elected official….
she told me again I needed to call the community board.
Interesting that my comment that said it’s the “Exonerated Five” wasn’t approved. Very strange, be respectful of this group of people and what they’ve been through.
Shaun Abreu has been MIA since he took office. If no one cares enough to oppose a candidate who is able to remain under the radar for two years, it doesn’t bode well for city government and democracy in general.
Whenever the Board of Elections determined that this primary would be cancelled, they did not inform the residents and voters in the district. I certainly got no notice in the mail; I’m on their list as I did receive their Voter’s Guide. Voters in other districts did receive some notification.
Agree WestSideVoter – I got the Voter guide as well, which (a) was a complete waste of money since there was no Primary and (b) failed to mention in the guide that there was no primary in District 6. A fail for the BOE and a waste of money for NYC taxpayers.
West Side Rag – can you advise or find out why they shifted the districts again? Why is there a cut off below 96th street for Sean Abreu? Makes no sense.
What WOULD make sense is if people pay attention to Diane Di Stasio who has publicly said she is very moderate and is stepping up to run so that our neighborhood will be safe again. Ask her any specific questions you may have and she’ll answer. It’s time to make a change that matters for our safety and quality of life. Enough is enough.
Gale Brewer is doing NOTHING about the bikes running lights, riding the wrong way or riding on the sidewalk!