Booted Bronx councilman may try again

Former City Councilman Andy King, who was expelled from the chamber in 2020 over a litany of professional misconduct complaints, could be eyeing a run for his old Bronx seat, the Daily News has learned.

King, a Democrat, filed paperwork with the city Campaign Finance Board Wednesday to run this year for the 12th Council District, which includes Co-op City, Baychester, Williamsbridge and Eastchester.

The paperwork lists King’s old campaign office in Williamsbridge as his mailing address, and designates a treasurer, too, indicating he’s seriously exploring a run. However, the filing also states he is “undetermined,” and he reported $0 in his campaign account.

Neither King nor his campaign treasurer immediately returned requests for comment Thursday.

Since King’s expulsion, the 12th District has been represented by Democratic Councilman Kevin Riley. He declined to comment on King’s apparent attempt at a Council comeback.

This year’s Council primaries are in June. The general elections are in November.

Despite King’s new filing, a Council source suggested he may not be legally able to run this year due to term limit restrictions.

Under the term limit rules in the City Charter, a Council member “who resigns or is removed from office prior to the completion of a full term shall be deemed to have held that office for a full term for purposes of Section 1138 of the charter.”

“We believe he is legally term-limited,” the source said. “Under existing rules, he can’t run again until 2025.”

King became the first Council member in modern memory to be kicked out of the chamber by his own colleagues.

His Oct. 5, 2020 expulsion came after the Council Ethics Committee substantiated charges that he had harassed a female employee, taken a kickback from another staffer and failed to pay a fine for previous misconduct.

The drastic action came after the Council had months earlier suspended King for 30 days for harassing staff; using Council resources on his stepdaughter’s Virgin Islands wedding; and enabling his wife, a municipal union official, to help run his office to her own benefit, among other charges.

During a debate on the City Council floor before his expulsion, King claimed his punishment was akin to being subjected to “lynching.”

“Why am I being attacked like this?” he said at the time.