City Council District 3 in Manhattan covers Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, and the Garment District, as well as parts of the West Village, Hudson Square, Greenwich Village, and Times Square. The district is currently represented by Council Member Erik Bottcher, who is running for re-election. [Profiles were written by candidates themselves; some have been lightly edited for space limitations.]
Erik Bottcher
Why are you running for re-election to the City Council?
I’m running for re-election because I love this city—and I believe in its future. Since Day One, my mission has been to make New York a more affordable, sustainable, and compassionate place for all of us. We’ve made real progress, but the work isn’t finished.
Growing up in a small town in the Adirondacks, I didn’t know a single other gay person. Like too many others, I struggled with my mental health, and those early experiences are what drive me every day to serve, to fight for people on the margins, and to build a city where no one is left behind.
What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if re-elected?
First, expand mental health support. New York is facing a mental health crisis, and we need to meet it head-on. I’ve already passed legislation to bring mental health services into family homeless shelters and require suicide-prevention resources in our schools. In my next term, I’ll keep pushing to expand access to care—including for people with disabilities..
Second, deliver more affordable housing: I’m proud to be one of the most vocal champions for affordable housing in the City Council. I’ve supported major new developments that will deliver thousands of homes—including hundreds of permanently affordable units—and I’ll keep working to accelerate office-to-residential conversions, protect tenants, and make our neighborhoods more accessible to working families.
Third, clean and green our streets: Everyone deserves to live in a clean, healthy neighborhood. I’ve restored trash pickups, fought for expanded street cleaning, and passed legislation to expand tree cover, roll-out curbside composting, and build protected bike lanes.
What makes you the best candidate for this position?
This job isn’t new to me—and neither is this community. I’ve lived it, I’ve served it, and I’ve delivered real results. From serving as chief of staff to my predecessor to leading as your Council member, I bring the experience, relationships, and determination to get things done.
Whether it’s scaffolding reform, increased tree coverage, or cracking down on single-use plastics, I’ve passed meaningful legislation that improves people’s everyday lives. My deep knowledge of District 3 and the City Council means I can keep delivering for our neighborhoods—because I know what it takes to turn ideas into action.
Background and Qualifications:
I’ve served as the Council member for District 3 since 2022, after working for years as chief of staff to then–Council Member Corey Johnson. I began my career in public service organizing grassroots campaigns for LGBTQ+ rights, fighting for marriage equality, and standing up against hate crimes and discrimination.
Today, I serve as co-chair of the Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus and as a member of the committees on Mental Health, Public Housing, Small Business, Economic Development, and more.
Dominick Romeo
Why are you running for City Council?
What brought me to this moment was when us Building Superintendents were sent back to work past 8pm to toss out our building’s trash under the guise that, somehow, bringing trash bags to the curb four hours later would send our rats over to New Jersey? It became clear that city officials were more concerned about bags being in their way while heading home from work than the working class. Which was when I formed my group of Supers called, NYCBuildingSuperS.com.
My own Council member refused to meet with us until I got some press for my efforts. You shouldn’t have to go to this extent to get your Council member’s attention. They shouldn’t be able to ruin an entire group of New Yorkers’ lives simply because they want to. In-between that, I saw my neighborhood falling apart. I see graffiti all over empty storefronts. I see violent and mentally disturbed individuals attacking other people and anything in their way. I see open drug use–freely lighting up their meth pipes without consequences. And I see corporations and politicians changing our city’s landscape into just two lanes of traffic, then taxing us for the congestion that they helped create!
What are the top three things you aim to accomplish if elected?
First, regulating e-bikes, and getting them off our sidewalks. I now know three seniors in our neighborhood who had been hit by an e-bike, who are still suffering from the medical aftermath six months after their accident.
Second, extending Obamacare, even if we turn Obamacare into Medicaid for all.
And lastly, affordable housing. There is nothing affordable about a $3,000-a-month studio.
What makes you the best candidate for this position?
Third-generation Hell’s Kitchen-ite and a third-generation Building Superintendent who’s served his community for decades, I have been an activist since I was 16 fighting for gay rights, equal rights, and transgender rights well before it was a popular belief. I’ve also had my darker moments in life when I suffered from addiction and the mental illnesses that come with it. I found myself living in homeless shelters for five years due to my mistakes. So, I know how the system works and how to fix it.
Background and qualifications:
I am a born and raised New Yorker and a lifelong Democrat. I am from here, so things tend to matter more to us than those who are not. Even though you could be a decent Council member coming from somewhere else–it’s just that people with deeper roots here, and the memories that form here, matter more to us versus those with deeper pockets. I am here to serve you, District 3.
Jacqueline Lara
Why are you running for City Council?
I am running for City Council in District 3 to save my home and the homes of my NYCHA neighbors. We are being threatened with a demolition project that won’t just destroy our community, it will also forever change the zoning in Chelsea, destroy its historic low-rise character, threaten the health and safety of our schoolchildren, snarl our traffic and pedestrian crossings, obliterate 370 mature trees, and reduce our open space and sunlight.
What are the top three things you hope to accomplish if elected?
First, vote No on the NYCHA demolition and bring all the parties to the table to come up with a better plan.
Second, I will sponsor legislation to give City Council members a greater say in how public-safety dollars are spent by the NYPD to more closely meet the needs of my constituents.
Third, I opposed the casino development in Hudson Yards that has subsequently been withdrawn by Related Cos. and Wynn Casinos, and I oppose the casino project that Silverstein Properties is proposing with Rush Street Gaming, and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment on a vacant lot in Hell’s Kitchen. We don’t need a casino on the West Side of Manhattan in our district. All the studies show that gaming makes economic life worse for disadvantaged populations. It increases debt and bankruptcies among the working classes. It brings crime. What we do need in our district is more affordable housing. We just had the mayor and all the City of Yes folks grandstanding on how we needed to pass City of Yes because we are in an affordable-housing crisis. So, instead of building casinos, let’s incentivize developers to build more affordable housing.
Why makes you the best person for the job?
I am a tenant organizer and a 22-year NYCHA resident. I led the fight to save the Fulton Houses from demolition in 2019. In 2024, I ran for the presidency of the Fulton Houses Residents’ Association, and while I did not succeed, I lost by a very small margin, and I am continuing to organize and motivate NYCHA tenants and our Chelsea neighbors to fight against this grave injustice. We need Chelsea to be a neighborhood that works for everyone, not just millionaires and billionaires.