Rivera in Her Final City Council Run Pulls Over 60% of Vote in Dem Primary

Incumbent City Council member Carlina Rivera racked up nearly 60.5 percent on the strength of 4,646 votes according to the latest still unofficial tally preliminary results from the June 27 Democratic primary. The diverse district that includes the East Village, Flatiron, Gramercy Park, Rose Hill, Kips Bay, Murray Hill, and parts of the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village as far west as Sixth Ave.

But her upstart rival Allie Ryan–a documentary filmmaker and an activist who was arrested at a demonstration protesting the destruction of the East River Park to make way for the East Side Resiliency Project–scored a surprisingly strong 38.6 percent tally (2,963 votes) according to the latest numbers released by the Board of Election on July 3. That suggests the chopping down of trees and sealing off much of the access along the former East River parkland while construction is underway is still a sore point with many voters.

Ryan after the primary ended issued via Twitter, “My congratulations with a list of a few top issues/ actions that voters conveyed on the campaign trail.” Rivera had ducked debates with her rival throught the campaign.

Rivera acknowledged this is her last race for a city council seat. “Due to term limits, I will not run for reelection in 2025, and I am eager to run this final lap with strength, compassion and integrity as I have aimed to do throughout my tenure.” She had made a bid for a Congressional seat last year, in a primary that draw a lot of candidates, including for awhile former Mayor Bill DeBlasio, but lost in a crowded field that was ultimately won by Dan Goldman.

In a statement following Rivera’s victory, the lower east side-born and raised council member said, “I am deeply grateful to the people of Council District 2, the communities that raised me and to this day make me who I am, for their enthusiastic support in my reelection to the City Council. I’ve often said it’s the honor of my life to serve the district and the city I love, and I never take for granted that you—my neighbors, my family, my friends—have entrusted me with this responsibility. Suffice to say, I’m eager to continue the work we’ve set into motion since my first election to the Council in 2017.

“Together, we have expanded access to healthcare for New Yorkers who might otherwise go without, invested in climate justice and resiliency to a historic degree, fought to create more affordable housing and hold those standing in the way to account, and increased accessibility and inclusion in the design of our parks and other public spaces. We took our rightful place as the leaders we know we can be with the nation’s first municipally funded abortion access fund in a time when access to reproductive healthcare is being decimated all over the country. We’ve brought over a billion dollars into the district we all know and love, from Kips Bay to the Lower East Side, to improve our community centers, youth and senior programming, hospitals, public safety, job-training centers and access to mental healthcare and other social services.

“And yet, we know the work is far from over in making ours the more equitable and just city we all deserve. No matter the fight, be it for public transit improvements and safer streets or fully supporting our public schools and libraries, I’m honored to stay in this with you for another two years, and I have so much hope and faith in the coalitions we’ve built to pass meaningful policy over the past five.”

Rivera began her work as a community activist as program director for the not-for-profit group Good Old Lower East Side and was instrumental in Sandy relief efforts. She first was elected to the city council in 2017.