While Democrats cruised to victory up and down Manhattan, two city council members had a particular easy time.
Gale Brewer, on the Upper West Side and Yeseef Salaam representing Harlem, were the only two Manhattan candidates to run with no opposition.
Brewer, who did not endorse Eric Adams four years ago, has also pointedly not endorsed Zohran Mamdani or any other candidate in the mayor’s race this year.
She did endorse Hoylman-Sigal in his borough president run. When the Spirit encountered her at the watch party being tossed by Bragg and Hoylman-Sigal, she said, “I’m keeping a low profile.”
Brewer is one of the longest serving city council members. She first took office on Jan. 1, 2002 until 2013. She then served as borough president from 2014 to 2021 before returning to reclaim her district 6 council seat in 2021.
Yusef Salaam is of course one of the Exonerated Five, who were falsely accused of brutally raping a female jogger in Central Park in 1989 and spent nearly 15 years in prison. All five were freed in 2014.
“Gate of the Exonerated” was dedicated at the northern end of Central Park in 2022 in honor of Salaam and the other four members of the Exonerated Five
Salaam, who had moved to Georgia after his release, returned to NYC to run in the city council race in 2023, won the primary and ended up running unopposed in the general election.
In the the June primary, he was opposed by educator Elizabeth Sanchez. After winning, he ran unopposed in the current election.