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Councilman Chris Marte will run for speaker
District 1 (us) Councilman Chris Marte announced today that he is running for speaker of the City Council — a position that is elected by peers, the other 50 members. The current speaker, Adrienne Adams, who also ran for mayor earlier this year, is term-limited out. The election will not take place until January, so this is early yet.
Marte has a 26-point plan that spans several issues, including the budget, land use, and City Council staffing and salaries.
The speaker is considered the second-most important elected official, after the mayor. And the position comes with a lot of perks and power: a higher salary, a bigger and better-paid staff, a big City Hall office, (for which art can be borrowed from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to City & State), and a full-time police detail. The speaker has control over councilmembers’ operating budgets and committees memberships, and selects members for council leadership spots.
According to another story in City & State, also campaigning for the job are former Tribecan Julie Menin, once the chair of CB1, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs and now a councilmember for the UES; “Brooklyn Council Member Crystal Hudson, a former council staffer who is among the more prolific of the council’s first-term members, and Bronx Council Member Amanda Farías, another former council staffer who is now majority leader…Council Member Carmen De La Rosa told City & State she is also running. Council Member Kevin Riley said he is considering it.”
Marte, 36, first ran for our council seat in 2021, securing 40 percent of the first-choice votes in rank choice voting — far and above any of the other eight candidates that round. He won again in the 2023 redistricting election with 63 percent of the vote in a much smaller field. (He also ran in 2017, losing to Margaret Chin by 200 votes.) He is a resident of Soho, but grew up on the Lower East Side.
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Yeesh, no thanks.
I don’t know enough about the other stated candidates; will have to look into them, not that I have a say.
Thinking off the top of my head, someone like Lincoln Restler should run, and would be a huge improvement over A. Adams.
There is big problem in how our City Council operates because of how undemocratic and dysfunctional the Speaker position is. The Speaker has far too much power to kill legislation they don’t like and punish and hurt entire communities for petty reasons. Christopher Marte’s proposed plan as Speaker would change all that and wants to make the entire process transparent. This is a dream come true, and it will benefit every single New Yorkers to elect Council Member Marte as the next Speaker!
His website lays it all out.
Give Marte credit. Point #14 of his 26-point plan — “Support Member Deference” — unabashedly waves his NIMBY flag wide and high.
In Marte’s own words: “Member deference is an unspoken rule where Council Members defer to the opinion of the local Council Member when voting on a local land use matter.”
Member deference is a big reason NYC rents are through the roof (haha). Knowing that the local CM can delay or water down or block altogether new housing on the flimsiest of premises — would-be developers don’t even try.
Rejection of Marte’s Council Speaker bid will be a clear sign that NYC housing NIMBYism is on the way out and more-affordable housing is on the way in.
you are obsessed with him
I sure am. The sooner our district is freed from fence-straddling on congestion pricing and obstructionism on housing, the more livable and affordable it and NYC will be, and the quicker NY State will stanch the bleeding of congressional seats and electoral votes. We should all be so obsessed!
Mr. Komanoff,
I am curious about what you think should be happening with respect to housing and/or new construction in NYC and our “district”?
For example, let’s say the area below Canal Street.
Do you think old low rise buildings should be torn down and replaced by new “high-rises”?
New buildings of 10 stories? 30 stories?
Should they be luxury buildings with amenities like pools and dog recreation? With some “affordable” units?
Do you believe in the trickle down theory – more new luxury units will result in cheaper rents in older buildings?
Or should the City of NY be subsidizing new affordable construction?
Might you share your opinion on rent stabilization?
BTW on a related topic, a NYT article reports that there are more “millionaire” renters in the US these days. The article does not dig deep, but some reader comments suggest that one factor is younger wealthy people who work remotely and thus favor renting for its flexibility and mobility.
What do you have in mind? Downtown Brooklyn? Long Island City? When did we ever stop building?
“Rejection of Marte’s Council Speaker bid will be a clear sign that NYC housing NIMBYism is on the way out”
Hey, did you not receive the results of the June Democratic Primary yet?
Your guy, Jesse Coleman, YIYBY champion, came in a distant third.
Marte swept it with 62% of the vote!!
This, despite hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by Big Real Estate and out-of-state PAC money to defeat him.
Ain’t it terrible when the local voters and grassroots activists – your neighbors – crush the rich and powerful?
Not surprised you don’t understand ranked choice voting, but Marte didn’t even get a majority of first choice votes, which is (objectively) horrendous for an incumbent in NYC and incredibly embarrassing. You can celebrate all you want on your pathetic narrow victory for a historically incompetent incumbent who does nothing, but the NIMBYs are a dying breed and the Martes of the world are breathing their last political breath.
“you don’t understand ranked choice voting”
Oh, I understand it VERY well, as well as the facts of this specific election.
The fact is that pro-developer Coleman came in a distant third in a 4-way race, not even cracking the 20% barrier, with a mere 16% of the initial vote.
Let me educate you. There is something called the Mickey Mouse Vote, whereby if you run Mickey Mouse against an incumbent, Mickey will get 15% of the vote. That is what your Coleman got: the Mickey Mouse vote.
Next time I suggest you YIYBYs run Mickey Mouse. He’ll probably do better than your guy Coleman.
And don’t think we don’t notice how you totally skip over the fact that close to a million dollars from outside PACs and the wealthiest real-estate developers was spent in vicious negative campaign ads to defeat Marte. On the other hand, Marte’s funding came from his neighbors and small time donors. At the same time his campaign ran a positive – not negative – message, and he trounced the Open NY candidate.
Finally, if you think developer shills win elections, I refer you to the Bronx, where YIYBY incumbent Democratic councilmmeber Marjorie Velazquez lost her seat to an unknown activist – a Republican no less – after she supported an upzoning her constituents opposes. Her loss to a Republican in the Blue Bronx made headlines and shows that voters don’t fall for the BS that YIYBYs spout.
Not to mention how the East Side’s Carlina Rivera, another developer’s pawn, barely beat unknown and underfunded community activist Allie Ryan, who had little funding or name recognition, just the support of her neighbors. Ryan got 40% of the vote, despite little funds, politician endorsements, or name recognition, which is a whole lot better than your guy Coleman’s pathetic results.
Spin it all you want, but time and time again, the voters are smart enough to know who represents them and who represents the oligarchs.
You seem really angry, clearly threatened by people like Coleman. And you should be. You also fail to mention Lewinsohn spending a million dollars of her own money, and Coleman still got more first round votes than many sitting assembly members got in their elections. I was proud to support him like many others and I won’t be surprised when he’s the council member 4 years from now. You seem like a really sad person who needs to talk down about people behind an anonymous comment on a message board. It’s just sad. Why don’t you run yourself if it’s so easy to get several thousand votes against an incumbent? My guess is it’s because you are a “pathetic” person yourself who merely projects your anger and anxiety about your declining power onto others. It’s sad. I genuinely feel bad for you.
Marte and Mandummy a recipe for disaster!
@Lisa:
Please don’t make this about me. The issue before us is a council member — and council speaker aspirant — who:
* slowed, stopped and helped kill a project that would have added 400 homes on a former parking lot (250 Water St).
* traded a 123-unit affordable rental complex for senior citizens in Little Italy (Haven Green) for non-existent housing somewhere downtown.
* tried to stop the omnibus City of Yes housing package — the only Manhattan CM to do so — NYC’s first comprensive, pro-housing zoning reform since 1961.
It’s infuriating to be repped by someone with these retro stances … and maddening that so many downtown residents don’t get that they’ve been played.
Now, if you really want to talk through *your* issues, sure, let’s meet up at Laughing Man or Madeline’s / Duane Park Patisserie. I’m easy to find. Till then, may I recommend the NYC Charter Revision Commission’s recent report on the city’s chronic and worsening housing crisis: https://edc.nyc/housing-crisis-and-new-york-city?
Zoning and variances are the cash cow of being a councilmember. Every easing of zoning restrictions means less graft for them.
https://nysfocus.com/2025/06/05/rafael-salamanca-bronx-developer-donations
Before the November 2021 vote on rezoning for the NY Blood Center, the last time member deference was ignored on a major land use decision was in 2009, when the City Council approved a mixed-use development in Dumbo over objections from the then-Councilmember.
From Crain’s NY 6/17/25:
“[…] Outside super PACs, unburdened by the strict spending limits that apply to regular campaigns, have already spent $11.1 million on City Council races ahead of the June 24 primary election, double the $5.5 million that outside groups spent on the same contests in 2021, according to city records. This year’s top-spending PACs — known locally as independent expenditure committees — include groups funded by Airbnb, Uber and DoorDash; real estate developers such as the Related Cos. and Two Trees; and labor unions like the United Federation of Teachers and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council. […]
“And no council candidate has benefited more than Darlene Mealy, a Central Brooklyn lawmaker who has amassed $780,200 from the likes of Uber, HTC and a PAC called New Yorkers For A Better Future 2025 whose top funders include investor Bill Ackman, Related, Two Trees, Extell Development and Vornado Realty CEO Steven Roth. That level of support might seem confounding — Mealy, who is seeking re-election against seven challengers, commands little influence in the council and has been accused by fellow lawmakers of rarely showing up to work.
“But two political operatives familiar with PAC strategy told Crain’s that the spending adheres to a few long-held practices. Among them: supporting an incumbent against a primary challenge is usually a good investment, since the incumbent typically wins and might be inclined to look favorably on future requests from the groups that supported them.
“‘The council member is very likely, if not guaranteed to win re-election, but there’s a degree of nervousness. So by spending, you get double bang for your buck,’ said one strategist, who was granted anonymity to speak freely. ‘The best is where I’m not even taking a gamble, but it kind of feels like I am, and I’m spending real money and getting real cred with the person.’
“That logic likely applies to council incumbents such as Kevin Riley and Pierina Sanchez in the Bronx and Shaun Abreu in Manhattan, each of whom has been boosted by hundreds of thousands of dollars in PAC money as they go up against less-moneyed challengers. (Candidates are legally barred from coordinating how these outside PACs spend their money.) […]”
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-policy/developers-unions-spend-record-11m-low-profile-nyc-council-races
Everyday when I walk out the door and see the filthy streets occupied by counterfeit goods vendors make me really wonder who is in charge of this part of the city? Tribeca east of Sixth Avenue looks like a lawless ghetto left behind and impossible to govern. Remember the response from Marté days before the election where he said he had invited some other elected officials and had a ‘walk through’ to observe the situation? A ‘walk through’!? This has been going on for five years, seven days a week, and he is a Soho resident! Some said he had more important things to do, does he?
All I know is this part of the neighborhood is in shambles and the politicians don’t or can’t give any answers. NIMBY or not.
The politicians have clearly called for non-enforcement by the NYPD, and shifting vendor enforcement powers to another agency is on the way. The sidewalks are impassable on Broadway, and Chairman Mao-rte could not care less.
Join the SoHo Broadway Initiative for a Community Roundtable Regarding Street Vending Enforcement — SoHo Broadway Initiative
SoHo Broadway Events: Hear directly from NYC agencies and officials about street vending enforcement in our district — and make your voice heard
Thursday, October 2nd, 4:00 p.m. on Zoom
The SoHo Broadway Initiative will share challenges and successes within the district and offer an opportunity for community members to hear directly from City agencies and elected officials regarding street vending enforcement.
Participating Partners Include:
Office of District Attorney Alvin Bragg
Office of Council Member Christopher Marte
Manhattan Community Board 2
NYC Department of Sanitation
NYPD 1st Precinct
NYPD 5th Precinct
We hope to see you there!
RSVP to attend Thursday, October 2nd, 4:00 p.m. on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/OfY794vNQLi3mSNzgY1J5Q#/registration
@Sean:
You’re right that Jess lost the June primary by a large margin. You got the rest wrong.
Jess is pro-development, not pro-developer. How else but with large-scale development of new housing can NYC receive and absorb immigrants and other newcomers who since the 1600s have continually revitalized our economy and culture? That means loosening the NIMBY stranglehold that Marte personifies and which your comments embody as well.
Granted, Chris has an appealing vibe. His megaphone photographs well. But under that patina, too many of his policy positions are retro. Opposing City of Yes – the only Manhattan councilmember to vote No – and championing members’ veto power over new housing – speak volumes. Ditto, waffling on congestion pricing, which is proving a godsend for downtown.
Contrary to your innuendo, Jess’s campaign was locally financed at the same rate as Marte’s. Calling Jess – a candidate cut from the idealistic cloth of Adlai, Eleanor and JFK – a shill for developers is the kind of personal attack that turns people away from public service. Try to do better.
And for once, please share your idea or three about solving our city’s problems and fulfilling its potential.