Who will be the next speaker of the New York City Council? Does Zohran care?

In the background of a deafening mayoral election, the quieter power struggle to become the next speaker of the New York City Council is well underway, with a hardening field of candidates, tentative coalitions and the leading candidate for mayor facing questions about who (if anyone) he’ll support.

Candidates who have been actively campaigning include Manhattan Council Member Julie Menin, who previously led two city agencies and the city’s 2020 Census outreach efforts, Brooklyn Council Member Crystal Hudson, a former council staffer who is among the more prolific of the council’s first-term members, and Bronx Council Member Amanda Farías, another former council staffer who is now majority leader.

But the field is certainly not fixed. Council Member Carmen De La Rosa told City & State she is also running. Council Member Kevin Riley said he is considering it. And Council Member Chris Marte has done outreach about running, but did not respond to questions from City & State.

It’s not clear whether the next mayor will attempt to influence the race – as Mayors Eric Adams and Bill de Blasio did, to varying degrees of success. At a press conference last week, Democratic mayoral nominee and front-runner Zohran Mamdani was asked whether he would support Hudson (who happened to be attending the press conference with him) or someone else. “I have deep respect for Council Member Hudson as well as for all council members across the board,” Mamdani deflected. “My focus is on winning this election in November.”

It’s a delicate balance for a mayor. Try to strong-arm the race, and you risk alienating members. Sit back, and you could end up with a speaker who stands in your way. “The aggressiveness with how a mayor plays a speaker’s race is not an ideological move,” said Democratic strategist Trip Yang. “It is feeling out the room, knowing what the audience is and deciding what is the strategic and graceful way to operate it.” Yang, who worked on Council Member Gale Brewer’s speaker run in 2021, is not currently working with any candidates.  

Candidates for speaker will also be considering the next occupant of the mayor’s office – their counterpart on the other side of City Hall. Looking at a potential Mayor Mamdani,  moderate members and Democratic Party establishment leaders – including those who have yet to endorse Mamdani – could want an ideological counterweight to him. 

That’s a case that Menin, who is not a member of the council’s Progressive Caucus (as Hudson, Farías, De La Rosa and Marte are) could make more easily than some of her competitors. Though one council member supportive of Menin noted that she and Mamdani also share goals like universal child care. Menin sponsored of several bills aimed at expanding access to child care – as part of a package that also included a bill sponsored by Hudson. 

Still, none of the candidates currently running are considered among the council’s farthest left members. Unlike Mamdani, none are members of the Democratic Socialists of America. That includes Hudson, who beat a DSA candidate in her 2021 Democratic primary with the  support of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Some argue she could convincingly make a case to work with a progressive City Hall on shared priorities while not just rubber stamping a mayoral agenda. 

But the speaker doesn’t necessarily need to be an ideological counterweight to a potential Democratic socialist incoming mayor. Past mayors and speakers have shared political identities. De Blasio helped install fellow progressive Melissa Mark-Viverito as speaker during his first term. And though Eric Adams pushed for a different candidate, both he and Adrienne Adams are moderates from Southeast Queens – so aligned that some wondered how much Adrienne Adams, who endorsed Eric in the primary, would hold the mayor accountable. (Over the past nearly four years, the council has often challenged Adams and pushed for more progressive policies.)

One council member said they’re leaning toward progressive candidates in the race – a field they said might include Hudson, Farías and De La Rosa. “When, inevitably, invariably, labor unions and county organizations and members of Congress – when everybody starts trying to sway us in one direction or another, that will probably put some pressures (on). But I’m excited to have progressives in the race,” said the member, who like other members interviewed for this story, agreed to speak about the evolving race on the condition of anonymity. 

Presented with the argument that a more moderate speaker is needed under potential Mayor Mamdani, some balked. “It certainly wasn’t the case with Mark-Viverito (and de Blasio),” that member said. “When it’s a brown guy, now that’s a question? Fuck that.”

As demonstrated in the 2021 speaker’s race in which Adrienne Adams was a late surprise victor, all of the best laid plans can unravel by December, when the race is effectively decided.

But that hasn’t stopped candidates from steadily laying the groundwork – making their pitch in coffee meetings with City Council members, lending a hand (or some campaign cash) in competitive elections, and lobbying outside influencers including labor unions and county Democratic parties. (Though the speaker race is determined by a straight vote of the council’s 51 members, those outside groups have historically held sway.)

Though it’s early, observers point to Menin’s strong relationships with labor – including unions like the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, and 32BJ SEIU, with whom she worked to pass two major legislative priorities – as pluses in her column. Both unions have endorsed Mamdani in the November general election. Supportive members also mention Menin’s previous leadership experience in city agencies. “Besides ideology, I think members are craving order and to ensure that we are a co-equal branch of government. And to do that, we need someone who is a strong leader and who is organized,” said one council member who is supportive of Menin.

When the last speaker race was decided, more than half of the council membership consisted of first-timers who were new to the process. This time around, some members  suggested that with more experience under their belts, they hope outside groups will have less sway and the decision will be driven more by council members. “We don’t want to give away our power as council members to external stakeholders,” said one member supportive of Hudson. “We want the body to be the one to pick the speaker.”