In Wide-Open District 2 Council Race, Local Activist Batchu Emerges As Surprise Top Fundraiser

Five candidates are in the wide-open race for a downtown City Council seat to succeed term-limited Carlina Rivera in the Democratic primary next June, including disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner, incumbent NYS Assembly member Harvey Epstein, Community Board 3 chair Andrea Gordillo, returning candidate Allie Ryan and community activist Sarah Batchu.

So far, the surprise top fundraiser for downtown’s district 2 seat is Sarah Batchu, according to the New York City Finance Board data.

”I think it is pretty impressive that a first-time candidate for office has emerged as the top fundraiser,” she said. “Our campaign’s fundraising success and grassroots support demonstrate a year of progress and partnerships that will carry us to victory in June and deliver change at City Hall.”

Batchu, a former vice chair of Community Board 3, has raised $255,718, according to the latest figures from NYCFB, and picked up some big recent endorsements including those of Chung Seto, president of the United Democratic Organization, and Virginia Kee, co-founder and president emeritus of the Chinese-American Planning Council. Batchu said she has actually raised slightly more than the NYCFB shows and pegged her fundraising war chest at $264,000, making her the first to reach the maximum amount for candidates accepting matching funds.

Batchu told Our Town that she initially thought housing affordability would be the key issue in the campaign, but “after knocking on doors for the past year I found that public safety is the biggest concern,” she said.

While the district is generally described as one centered in the East Village, Loisida and Alphabet City, it also stretches into Union Square, Midtown East, including Kips Bay, Murray Hill and Gramercy Park, and as far west as a portion of Greenwich Village.

Epstein declared for the City Council seat last year while he was still running unopposed for re-election to the NY State Assembly, a race he won handily. “I am running for the City Council because the urgent priorities of our community require trusted leadership and a robust vision for our future,” according to his campaign website. He has picked up endorsements from former Council member Rosie Mendez and West Side Council member Erik Bottcher, among others.

While Epstein’s announcement that he’s running for the Council was a surprise last May, salary records show that a City Council member is actually paid slightly more than an Assembly member and is not saddled with the added cost of commuting and lodging in Albany. Rivera pulled in $148,093 in 2023, while Epstein’s Assembly salary was $145,000 in 2023.

Allie Ryan ran against incumbent Rivera in the last Democratic primary two years ago and made a relatively strong showing for an insurgent based on her longstanding opposition to the East Side Resiliency project and long closures of the East River parks on the LES. She was arrested at one of the protests. She also opposed restaurant sheds. This time she is running as an unabashed opponent to congestion pricing and recently posted an invite on the Next Door blog for other opponents to join her campaign. But so far, she has raised only $6,900 in funds for her campaign, according to NYCFB data.

Weiner started late in the campaign, but he claimed he has raised over $150,000 so far. New York City Finance Board records so far show a lagging campaign, however, with only $27,865 raised so far.

He’s been blasted by others in the race. “I don’t think my district should serve as a redemption tour for the former Congressman,” said Batchu.

“Families in Lower Manhattan deserve better than failed New York and Washington politicians using our moment of need for their own political comeback,” blasted Gordillo.

Gordillo, a Lower East Side progressive who was friendly with Batchu when both served on Community Board 3, is not far behind her rival in reaching the maximum that the city allows a candidate to accept if receiving matching funds. She’s has $231,862 in campaign funds so far. She pegs housing, cultural vitality, climate resiliency, and public safety as top issues in her campaign.

Batchu, a Lower East Side resident who works for a non-profit in Brooklyn, said she’ll probably be resigning from her day job in the near future to focus entirely on the campaign.