Mayor Mamdani on Friday backed Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, in her bid for City Council.
The election for the open council seat on Manhattan’s West Side has emerged as a proxy battle between City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Mamdani as he vies for more influence over the Council, Menin has already endorsed another candidate in the race, Carl Wilson.
In a statement, Mamdani cited Boylan’s “fearless leadership” and willingness to “challenge entrenched power.”
“As we work to usher in a new era in our city’s politics, and advance our affordability agenda, I need partners in the work like Lindsey and that’s why I am proud to endorse her campaign for City Council,” Mamdani said.
Boylan has frequently spoken out against Cuomo, her former boss in Albany, and appeared numerous times alongside Mamdani during the mayoral race in which he defeated the former governor. Mamdani, for his part, has remained critical as mayor of the ex-governor, who denies the sexual harassment allegations from Boylan as well as a dozen other accusers.
Boylan is running in a special election to fill the seat recently vacated by now-State Sen. Erik Bottcher. She’s up against Wilson, Bottcher’s former chief of staff, with Leslie Boghosian Murphy, the chair of Community Board 4 and Layla Law-Gisiko, a community activist, also in the race.
Early voting begins on Saturday for the election, with Election Day falling on Tuesday, April 28.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, and Menin, a moderate democrat, have developed an antagonistic relationship in their first months of leadership. As the city determines how to balance its budget, the two have traded jabs at each other — although the speaker extended an olive branch of sorts earlier this week with the Council approval of Mamdani’s pick for the city’s top investigative watchdog.
The backing is also a test of Mamdani’s political weight in the district, which he won in November by double digits.
A spokesperson for the speaker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Previously, Boylan mounted unsuccessful campaigns for Manhattan borough president in 2021 and Congress in 2020.