JFK Grandson Toying with Run for Nadler Seat Next Year Along with Bores, Lasher, and Bottcher

November 2025 election’s in a few weeks. Then the 2026 primaries are not far behind.

So, Sojourn Social, the popular UES restaurant, was where the Lexington Democratic Club held its fall social—and it was buzzing.

The bar was packed with Dems meeting and mingling with candidates on the November ballot. Not the mayoral types. No Mamdani. No Cuomo. But plenty of judicial candidates on the November ballot. All are shoo-ins. No opposition. Supreme Court candidates Jim Clynes and Suzanne Adams were there as were Terence McCormick and Onya Brinson. Clynes, Adams, and McCormick are East Siders. Brinson’s from the Heights. That’s 2025. Those judges seeking nomination for Supreme Court in 2026 included Kate Waterman, Josh Hanshaft, Chris Chin, and Aija Tingling.

The highly anticipated bare-knuckles race is already unfolding in the 2026 race for Jerry Nadler’s 12th Congressional District seat. Potential candidates who showed at the Lex Club social were Assembly members Alex Bores, Micah Lasher, and Jack Schlossberg, who is, of course, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy.

Nadler’s said to favor his onetime top aide, Lasher. There’s a much wider field unfolding. Bores, a rarity in Albany in that he was a computer science major in college who in August was named to the Time 100 Top AI leaders, arrived first and hit the ground running by working the room. As a late arrival, I can only report what I was told: Four Freedoms and Lex Club members were saying privately that they wish Alex would not run because of all the good work he’s doing in Albany. Lasher and Schlossberg might agree, ya think?

Bores is an East Sider. Lasher’s a West Sider. Schlossberg, born and raised on 78th Street on the East Side, now lives in Chelsea. And he may have company on his home turf because Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen City Council Member Eric Bottcher, who is the favorite to win his re-election race for the council this year has already announced he is “strongly considering” a run for Congress next year. This year, he is a heavy favorite versus the colorful activist, apartment super Dominick Romeo, who is carrying the Republican party banner.

While Schlossberg’s a West Sider now, he has an East Side-and-beyond pedigree. He’s the only grandson of JFK and Jackie Kennedy, son of Caroline and Ed Schlossberg. With his pedigree and height, he easily captured everyone’s attention and saying that he was “exploring the Congressional race.” We’re watching and listening.

Celebrating Italian Heritage Month — To celebrate Italian Heritage Month, the Civil Court Equal Justice Implementation Committee, chaired by East Sider Judge Dana Catanzaro, is co-sponsoring “After the Plague: Eucharistic Illusion in an Early Renaissance Last Supper,” in which retired Justice Barbara Jaffe traces the historical, religious, sociological, philosophical, economic and stylistic developments that culminated in the Italian Renaissance and produced what she posits is an intentional optical illusion embedded with Andrea del Castagno’s “Last Supper.” It’s happening on Oct. 29 from 1 to 2:15 p.m. at the Civil Court House, Room 107.

Let’s talk taco—El Taco is one of the latest fast-casual taquerias on the UES. It’s newly opened on Second Avenue between 75th and 76th streets. Owners Ryan O’Neill, Daniel Baer, Gur Haykin, and Maurilio Tendilla promise, per the Upper East Site blog, that “when people bite into their tacos,” they will “feel as if they’re getting a piece of Mexico.”

El Taco’s a small space with counter seating at high stools, making it easy to watch tacos being made in the open kitchen. There are two small tables to the side of the storefront entrance. Or you can grab and go. Order, then take your tacos to the condiment counter. Salsas are freshly made. I couldn’t get enough of the pico de gallo! The taco al pastor was perfectly marinated grilled pork. Other tacos on the menu include chicken and chorizo as well as quesadillas, chips and salsa and guacamole. But don’t miss the al pastor. The grilled sliced meat is luscious. And the quesadilla’s oozy cheese was great with a refreshing Aqua Fresca. Other drinks, including Mexican Coca-Cola, are available. Open from 11 a.m. to midnight on Sundays through Thursdays, and from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

And that Voter Guide—After my calling attention to the snafus in this year’s earlier Voter Guide, including sending a guide to someone who hasn’t lived at the address for at least 25 years and receiving an explanation from the NYC Campaign Finance Board, the non-resident voter received a Voters Guide this go-round. Me, a more-than-25-year resident voter, living at the same address for at least 20 years and always voting, did not. I read the guide anyway. Stopping the GOP from letting enhanced tax credits expire.—Congressmen Dan Goldman and George Latimer joined Protect Our Care New York and advocates from across NYS to discuss the urgent need to stop the GOP from letting enhanced premium tax credits expire. According to Protect Our Care, “Enhanced premium tax credits play an essential role in making health insurance affordable for 118,000 New Yorkers enrolled in coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Allowing these credits to expire would force families to choose between health care and basic necessities.” They singled out NY legislators Mike Lawlor (NY-17), Nick LaLota (NY-01), and Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) for having raised costs for families by slashing Medicaid funding in what Goldman and Dems call the GOP’s “Big Ugly Bill”—and say they “will continue to do so if these vital tax credits are cut.”