Anthony Weiner has gripes about his opponents’ campaign office rent

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner sent a letter to the New York City Campaign Finance Board last week alleging that fellow candidates in a lower Manhattan City Council race are receiving an “unfair advantage” by way of unreported discounted office space. 

Weiner, seeking a political comeback 14 years after resigning from Congress amid a sexting scandal involving several women and later serving prison time for sexting a minor, is running for New York City Council in District 2, which includes the East Village, Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side. In his complaint to the CFB, he argued that what Assembly Member Harvey Epstein and nonprofit leader Sarah Batchu are paying in rent for their campaign offices is well below market value – thus amounting to an unreported in-kind contribution. Both candidates deny any wrongdoing.

Epstein is paying $1,800 a month to sublet his campaign office, which is located on 12th Street and Avenue B in the East Village. A similar office space in the neighborhood cited in the complaint is listed at $8,500 a month – although drawing a direct comparison is tricky as Epstein is subletting only part of the space. The complaint also claims that Batchu is in violation for paying $5,300 a month for her campaign office located roughly a block away. A link included in the complaint shows that at some point in time the space was listed at $12,000 a month.

“While we will leave the ethics of accepting favors from landlords to a different venue, we urge the CFB to act at once to make sure that all candidates in this race pay fair market for any goods or services they use or receive,” Lexi Georgiadis, Weiner’s treasurer and campaign manager, wrote in the letter.

Both Epstein and Batchu are engaged in short-term agreements, and both said they got a deal because the landlord was looking for an interim tenant. Epstein’s sublease extends from February 21 to June 30 – an agreement he says came about after the property’s sublandlord was looking to transition the storefront from a thrift shop to a barber shop and offered to sublet part of the space in the interim. The property’s leaseholder signed a five-year lease for the space in 2024 for $3,500 a month. Batchu’s lease extends from March 1 to June 30. Similar to Epstein, it was made on an interim basis with Eleven B, a local pizzeria. 

“Sounds like he needs some help on negotiating leases,” Batchu said of Weiner’s complaint. “Not sure how he expects to work on the city budget if he doesn’t get this. Happy to give him some tips, as ($5,300) is plenty to pay in rent.”

The City Campaign Finance Board restricts in-kind donations – gifts of goods or services to a campaign for free or offered below fair market value – to the same limits as regular campaign donations and requires that campaigns report them. Just like with monetary donations, campaigns aren’t allowed to accept in-kind donations from “prohibited entities” including LLCs and corporations. While he declined to comment on any specific cases, Campaign Finance Board Press Secretary Tim Hunter said that generally speaking, fair market value can be determined by searching online for comparable goods or by asking vendors what they would normally charge.

Put up against what other City Council candidates are paying in rent for their office spaces, neither figure appears abnormally low – in fact, Batchu seems to be paying more than most. Community Board 3 Chair Andrea Gordillo, another candidate vying for the Council District 2 seat, is paying $4,000 a month for her 500-square-foot East Village office space. Jess Coleman, a lower Manhattan City Council candidate running in the neighboring Council District 1, reported paying $2,150 in April and $3,118 in May rent for his downtown campaign office. (Weiner is not renting a campaign office).

“The key is that any negotiated pricing be the product of an arm’s-length negotiation and that the vendor is not giving a campaign favorable treatment because the vendor wants the candidate to win,” election lawyer and campaign finance attorney Aaron Foldenauer explained, adding that Batchu and Epstein are both paying “substantial rent” and “arguably using empty space that would otherwise accrue zero revenue for the landlord during these months.” “It’s going to be extremely difficult for Anthony Weiner to prove that the rent being paid by the other campaigns is so low so as to be deemed unlawful,” Foldenauer said. 

There’s a lot of eyes on the competitive race to succeed term-limited City Council Member Carlina Rivera – particularly after Weiner jumped in the ring last fall. As the only sitting elected official in the race, Epstein is widely seen as the race’s front-runner, gobbling up most of the major endorsements from fellow politicians. But Batchu has also proven herself to be a formidable fundraiser and secured endorsements from a number of local leaders and organizations. She’s taken aim at Weiner multiple times over the past couple of months, most recently protesting his interview on The View last week. In February, Batchu unveiled a proposal she would like to introduce as a bill if elected dubbed the WEINER Act seeking to ban registered sex offenders from holding elected office.