Community Activist Layla Law-Gisiko Launches Campaign in District 3 Council Race

Community activist Layla Law-Gisiko officially launched her run for what is expected to be the City Council’s soon-to-be open District 3 seat on Jan. 13, holding a boisterous rally in front of a NYCHA building at the Fulton & Elliott-Chelsea Houses on W. 17th St.

Current District 3 rep. Erik Bottcher is running for a NYS Senate Seat, which became vacant when Brad Hoylman-Sigal was sworn in as Manhattan Borough President this year. On Jan. 11, key West Side Democratic clubs voted unanimously to give Bottcher the Democratic line in a special election set for Feb. 3, virtually guaranteeing victory in the heavily Democratic district.

Law-Gisiko is not the only one vying for the seat. Her opponents are expected to include Bottcher’s chief of staff Carl Wilson, as well as Community Board 4 chair Leslie Boghosian Murphy and Lindsay Boylan, who gained prominence after testifying that former Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed her.

Gisiko’s choice of rally location was not surprising given the tenor of her activism, which often involves railing against large development decisions that are deemed antidemocratic or destructive by certain locally-affected residents.

Meanwhile, the Fulton & Elliott-Chelsea Houses are currently in the midst of a contentious demolition-and-rebuild project, conducted by NYCHA in partnership with private developers; the result is intended to be a completely revamped mixed-use space, with some of the complex’s low-income housing stock set to be replaced by market-price units.

Among other things, Law-Gisiko has gained fame for taking on a once-proposed rework of Penn Station that would have obliterated a vibrant city block to the south of the station, which now appears to be on hold.

Law-Gisiko’s rally was attended by supporters who expressed belief in her ability to take on said interests, with one woman notably saying that she had left a dialysis appointment to show her solidarity. “We will be here to support you,” she pointedly told the candidate.

“Fulton and Chelsea, you need to get out the vote,” another tenant said.

District 1 City Council Member Christopher Marte–who has focused on similar developmental issues during his time in office, where he represents Lower Manhattan–showed up to endorse her on the spot. He spoke before her, helping lead the crowd in “Layla! Layla! Layla!” chants.

Accusing “powerful interests” of pitting local residents against each other, Marte summarized the objectives of the NYCHA re-development plan with disdain: “They say the only way we can save public housing is by demolishing it...getting rid of the rent-stabilized units and building condos. It doesn’t make sense, but many politicians choose to have it make sense, for their own political gain.”

When Law-Gisiko stepped up to the mic for her kick-off speech, wearing a white pantsuit, she hammered home similar themes. “If NYCHA and Related have their way, this building behind us—as well as all the other buildings in Eliot-Chelsea—would be torn down,” she said to boos. “This demolition is the symbol of absurd policies that are based on greed and laced with laziness.”

“The buildings are in need of tender care, but not the wrecking ball,” she added. “These buildings are people’s homes. We cannot, and we will not, let this demolition happen. The moment we’re in is too urgent to dress up in polished language.”

City officials during the Adams administration, which supported the project, claimed that the cost to repair the deteriorated housing stock could exceed $1.5 billion. That is the same price tag affixed to development of a brand-new complex, with some towers as tall as 39 stories high.

Under that plan, tenants would be relocated temporarily while the old housing is demolished and new buildings are erected. Then-Mayor Eric Adams said NYCHA partnering with private developers was part of a long-term plan to “get the city out of the landlord business.”

Law-Gisiko listed what an alternative way of approaching local housing issues would look like, if she’s elected to represent the district (which includes Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, and part of the West Village).

“We need to protect our tenants. We need to bring true affordable housing to the district. We need to serve our homeless population. We need to defend our blocks from speculative development that makes no sense, other than for some Fortune 500 company’s bottom line,” she said.

Citing the late Robert Kennedy Sr.–who famously said that people should not be reduced to Gross National Product figures, “which measures everything except that which is worthwhile”–Law-Gisiko called the election a “moral test of what we value.”

“We are the economic vitality of this district,” she said. “We, the working class, the artists, the retirees who have spent a life of labor, the children who are inspired to learn and embody our future, the immigrants who seek a better life...we are not disposable, we are not interchangeable.”