New York County Politics

On Jan. 14, the East River Democratic Club endorsed Dan Quart for Manhattan District Attorney. During the same meeting, they also endorsed Ben Kallos for Manhattan Borough President, David Weprin for City Comptroller, and Tricia Shimamura and Keith Powers for City Council.

Meanwhile, Ben Kallos received an endorsement from the Four Freedoms Democratic Club, which they announced this morning. The club also voted to endorse Brad Lander for City Comptroller.

Several prominent environmental advocates and activists endorsed Councilmember Ben Kallos (D-Yorkville, Lenox Hill) in his bid to succeed Gale Brewer (D) as Manhattan Borough President.

Council Member Ben Kallos

Kallos’ colleague City Council Environmental Protection Committee Chair Costa Constantinides (D-Queens) was among those to endorse him in the race, citing Kallos’ track record.

“The New York City Council passed Climate Works for All to limit pollution by dirty buildings thanks to unwavering support for our planet from Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Ben Kallos,” said Constantinides. “When the real estate industry put profits over people by fighting strong limits on dirty buildings,  Ben Kallos not only stood up for our planet but refused their dirty money.”

Yesterday, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 officially endorsed Councilmember Ben Kallos (D-Yorkville, Lenox Hill) for Manhattan Borough President.

ATU Local 1181 represents more than 14,000 school bus operators, matrons, and mechanics, and they endorsed Kallos due to the Councilmember’s tireless work on their behalf. As a Councilmember, he has authored legislation to give operators more time for dry runs, allowing them to flag bad routes before the school year begins. Furthermore, prior to his election, he marched with ATU Local 1181 members to support the inclusion of Employee Protection Provisions (EPPs) in their contracts.

“I am proud to have the support of our bus drivers who get our students to school and provide transportation for our disabled,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “We must support the bus drivers who get us where we need to go from the disabled to our children going to school.”