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Despite the South Bronx-East Harlem district being one of the poorest in the city, big-money donors based in Manhattan and Westchester County have invested thousands of dollars in the district’s City Council race.
A version of this story was originally published by the Mott Haven Herald, a student-powered news outlet at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism covering the Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose and Port Morris.
A crowded field of candidates are vying for the open District 8 City Council seat, which covers swaths of East Harlem and the South Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose, Port Morris, and Concourse-Concourse Village. Current Councilwoman Diana Ayala is term-limited.
The candidates running are chief of staff to Ayala’s office Elsie Encarnacion, non-profit lawyer Wilfredo López, state committee member for the 68th Assembly District Nicholas Reyes, “Exonerated Five” member and criminal justice advocate Raymond Santana, paralegal Rosa Diaz, and business owner Evette Zayas, as well as Federico Colon, an aide to former councilman Adam Powell.
Community Board 1 Chair Clarisa Alayeto is also running once again for the District 8 seat. The Board of Elections previously disqualified her for technical errors on candidacy paperwork, such as misspellings of her name and mismatched zip codes, after a Wall Street-backed political action committee filed objections against her petitions. But this week, Alayeto won her appeal of that earlier decision, meaning she’ll remain on the primary ballot next month, news site The City reported Wednesday.
Out-of-district money floods local race
Despite the South Bronx-East Harlem district being one of the poorest in the city, big-money donors based in Manhattan and Westchester County have invested thousands of dollars in the district’s City Council race.
Santana is the only candidate in the District 8 Council race to receive PAC funding, securing the maximum contribution of $1,050 from Striving for a Better New York–a political action committee (PAC) that was under investigation as part of the federal probe involving Mayor Eric Adams. That investigation was discontinued in early April. The PAC’s goals are to elect officials from diverse backgrounds who align with its views on public safety, housing, the economy, education, and healthcare, according to its website.
Santana and Alayeto have also received large donations from donors associated with Solidarity PAC, a newly formed pro-Israel lobbying group.
Solidarity PAC, launched in 2023 to support New York candidates who share the PAC’s “deep-rooted American values and pro-Israel beliefs,” according to its website. Solidarity PAC has endorsed seven candidates across the city, but no candidate has listed contributions from the committee as of the most recent campaign disclosure filings.
The PAC has endorsed three candidates challenging City Council incumbents: Ling Ye, who is vying to represent the neighborhoods of Red Hook and Park Slope; Maya Kornberg, running in Borough Park and Windsor Terrace; and Dermot Smyth, running in an open primary to represent Western Queens. They are also backing four incumbent candidates: Councilmembers Lynn Schulman, Eric Dinowitz, Shaun Abreu, and Susan Zhuang.
Who’s giving and why?
Donors to Solidarity PAC and members of their sister organization, New York Solidarity Network, have donated significant amounts as individuals to Alayeto and Santana, in addition to donating as individuals to the seven endorsed candidates.
Alayeto and Santana have not been endorsed by Solidarity PAC but have together received $5,700 from donors affiliated with the group. The city’s public matching fund program stretches these individual donations further and provides an additional $1,935 that would otherwise not be matched if Solidarity PAC contributed as a group. The PAC itself has not made any contributions on behalf of the group, according to the most recent campaign disclosure filings.
Scarsdale resident Adeena Rosen, chairperson of Solidarity PAC and director of New York Solidarity Network, donated $1,050 each to Alayeto and Santana. Rosen is also the largest donor to the PAC itself, contributing $30,000 to the PAC last year.
Seven donors affiliated with the Solidarity PAC and New York Solidarity Network have each contributed equal amounts—between $175 and $350—to both Alayeto and Santana. All seven have also donated to the PAC-endorsed candidates in the other boroughs.
Alayeto denied knowing of Solidarity PAC and her donors’ affiliations with the PAC.
“If you are supporting me it’s because you support my mission and my vision to do better by my community,” said Alayeto in an interview. “And that means the things that I stand for: better education, sanitation, and improvement in public safety.”
“I’m not here to complicate anything. I’m not here to talk about things beyond my jurisdiction or beyond what I can do,” said Alayeto.
Santana, meanwhile, has “connected a couple of times” with Sara Forman, Solidarity PAC treasurer and NYSN executive director, leading to contributions from PAC members, according to a spokesperson from Santana’s campaign.
“They’ve connected a number of times talking about the race, talking about Raymond’s agenda and his platform, talking about kitchen table issues,” a campaign spokesperson said.
The source also said Santana told Forman that he is focused on issues affecting East Harlem and the South Bronx, and not foreign policy.
Santana could not be reached directly for comment, but has criticized PAC spending in District 8 through his Instagram account. Santana reposted articles on the Wall Street-funded Ending Homelessness and Building a Better New York group, which recently reported spending $145,000 in spending on digital ads and mailers supporting candidate Wil López.
“I don’t have a super PAC behind me, I don’t have $1.6 million behind me,” Santana said at the District 8 candidate forum on April 26, referring to the PAC’s total contributions in all races.
While Solidarity PAC hasn’t formally endorsed a candidate in the District 8 City Council race, the campaign spokesperson said New York Solidarity Network members are expected to receive voting recommendations or guides before election day.
Solidarity PAC, the affiliated New York Solidarity Network, and Rosen did not respond to the Mott Haven Herald’s multiple requests for comment.
Solidarity PAC previously endorsed candidates competing against Democratic Socialists of America and Working Families-backed candidates during last year’s State Assembly race, as reported by New York Focus. Neither Alayeto nor Santana has been endorsed by either party.
Israel’s continued assault and blockade of Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel have drawn widespread protests throughout New York City, home to the largest concentrations of Muslim and Jewish people in the United States. The war has become a divisive issue among elected officials in New York, particularly as the Trump administration moves to detain and deport immigrant protestors who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests, including Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.
One of Santana’s donors, Craig Balsam, wrote in the “October 7th Essays and Reflections” collection published by New York Solidarity Network that it is important for local elected officials to “understand the global political context and the significance of Israel’s existence— both for Jews around the world and as a key geopolitical partner of the United States.”
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