Now it’s down to DA wire for primaries
Qns., Bx. re-elex fights top ballots
New Yorkers get a final chance Tuesday to pick their party candidates for district attorneys in Queens and The Bronx, the City Council and judgeships.
Nine days of early voting ended at 5 p.m. Sunday, with just 44,611 city residents casting ballots, according to the city Board of Elections.
In the Queens DA race, incumbent Democrat Melinda Katz faces a primary from her left and right flank — public defender Devian Daniels and retired Judge and NYPD Deputy Commissioner George Grasso. Katz has the lion’s share of party establishment support, including the backing of Mayor Adams.
In the Bronx DA race, Democrat incumbent Darcel Clark, the first black woman elected DA in the state in 2015, faces a challenge from her left by criminal defense lawyer Tess Cohen. The Post has reported Clark had the worst conviction and dismissal rates in the city, according to state criminal justice data.
There are about a dozen competitive council races worth watching, including:
In District 9 in Central Harlem, three main contenders are vying for an open seat after the incumbent, democratic-socialist Kristin Richardson Jordan, decided not to seek reelection. They are Yusef Salaam, who was exonerated in the infamous Central Park 5 rape case, and Assembly members Inez Dickens and Al Taylor.
Redistricting created a new District 43 in Brooklyn that’s majority Asian. The three-way primary features Wai Yee Chan, Stanley Ng and Susan Zhuang.
The two main factions in southern Brooklyn are backing different candidates. Neighboring Councilman Justin Brannan and much of the labor movement is behind Chan, while Assemblyman Bill Coltin is backing Zhuang.
A wild card in the race is the Orthodox Jewish bloc, which could sway the outcome. Chan took flak for accepting the endorsement of the CUNY professors’ union, which defended the inflammatory CUNY Law School commencement address of Fatima Mohammed.
In District 47, the Republican primary will determine who will face Democratic incumbent Brannan, whose reconfigured district could be up for grabs in the general.
Democrat-turned-Republican Councilman Ari Kagan, who grew up in Belarus under Soviet rule, faces challenges from Anna Belfiore-Delfaus, a former teacher, and special education teacher Avery Pereira. Thanks to redistricting, the two current council members — Kagan and Brannan — could end up going head-to-head in the general election.
District 19 in northeast Queens includes College Point, Whitestone and Bayside, and a Dem primary will determine who faces GOP incumbent Vicki Paladino. Former City Councilman and state Sen. Tony Avella is favored to win.
Other candidates include Queens prosecutor Christopher Bae and urban affairs planner Paul Graziano.
For the Democratic primary in the East Bronx’s District 13, incumbent Marjorie Velázquez faces Irene Estrada, chairwoman of Bronx Community Board 11, neighborhood activist Bernadette Ferrara and Army vet John Perez.
In the GOP primary, Kristy Marmorato, the sister of county Republican Chairman Michael Rendino, faces George Havranek, president of the Spencer Estate Civic Association, and construction business owner Hasime “Samantha” Zherka.