Can Brooklyn stand united in City Council speaker race?

In the covert race for City Council speaker, little is decided. But the puzzle pieces that will get candidates over the 26-vote threshold are starting to tentatively inch into place.

Queens Democratic Party leader Rep. Greg Meeks is on record with strong praise of Julie Menin. Menin, a more moderate leaning member from Manhattan, also has some support in the Bronx, which tends to align with Queens. Council Member Crystal Hudson, meanwhile, is seen as a top pick for progressives. But no one’s vote tally is written in ink. Some see potential for Council Member Amanda Farías to emerge as a compromise candidate should the two front-runners’ nebulous coalitions fall apart. Council Members Selvena Brooks-Powers and Chris Marte, who are also running, may have time yet to make moves.

But an open question in the evolving internal race is how Brooklyn will position itself. The largest delegation in the council, Brooklyn comprises 17 members, including two Republicans and two members whose districts cross over into other boroughs. Unlike the Bronx and Queens, the borough has not been as influential as a bloc in speaker candidates’ winning coalitions in the last couple elections.

Both Brooklyn Democratic Party Leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and the individual members who make up the Brooklyn delegation are looking to change that.

“I’ve worked with, let’s say, people from the progressive side and people from the moderate side to come together,” Bichotte Hermelyn told City & State on Thursday. “Everybody agreed to consider working as a united front, given that over the course of the years, Brooklyn – who has been the largest county – has really gotten the short end of the stick as it comes to the City Council.”

Multiple individual council members in Brooklyn, including ones who aren’t seen as beholden to the county leadership, also want to move as a united front. “I have worked hard to support the county leader in the effort for a united Brooklyn and I am investing my time towards that end,” Council Member Sandy Nurse said in a statement. “Brooklyn is the largest delegation and has not moved together since 2013. It’s a rare opportunity and I hope we seize it.”

But while some of the borough’s council members say that Brooklyn is poised to line up behind Hudson, the only Brooklyn candidate in the race, Bichotte Hermeleyn isn’t quite convinced. She said that a “good number of people” in the borough are with Hudson but thinks that there are more who are uncommitted. She hasn’t ruled out Hudson – or Menin, for that matter – but has talked about alternative “consensus candidates.” “It may not be Julie, it may not be Crystal, it may be someone completely different,” she said. “It may be someone who hasn’t even put their bid in.”

Who might that be? Bichotte Hermelyn said that people have asked her to back Brooklyn Council Member Farah Louis, but Louis is not currently interested in running. Asked if there were others she had an eye on, she mentioned veteran Council Member Gale Brewer, who ran for speaker in 2021 – and who represents Manhattan. “Everybody loves her and respects her. I think she would get unanimous votes.” Bichotte Hermelyn said she spoke to Brewer about running but that Brewer wasn’t interested. (City & State could not immediately reach Brewer on Thursday.)

Bichotte Hermelyn said she could also see Farías, Brooks-Powers or Marte being a consensus pick.

In short, Bichotte Hermelyn talks about the field as if it’s wide open. That contrasts with the view of some members in Brooklyn who see an obvious path there for Hudson – including Hudson herself. Asked on Saturday what tangible progress she could point to at the end of Somos, she cited the packed crowd at a Brooklyn Democrats reception in Puerto Rico. “It seems like Brooklyn is united, and I’m the only candidate from Brooklyn,” she told City & State.

While a candidate doesn’t need to be from the borough to get its support, several people inside Brooklyn did characterize the members as largely behind Hudson with just a handful of members being undecided – rather than a majority of members undecided, as Bichotte Hermelyn characterized it. (City & State has not been able to independently verify any of the leading candidates’ full working tallies, which are kept close to the vest.) 

Bichotte Hermelyn has convened the Brooklyn delegation – including in a meeting at Somos – but said that there is no top-down pressure or bullying to support a certain candidate. That approach would likely alienate members today. “If she tries to aggressively move independent of Crystal, she risks exposing a real weakness in the county organization itself,” said one political consultant who has worked on past speaker campaigns. “All the county leaders have this challenge … We’re way beyond the days of the county leaders being able to dictate to their members who they want to make the speaker.”

If Queens and the Bronx do solidify behind Menin, Brooklyn would be a key part of any opposing candidate’s coalition, along with progressive members picked off from boroughs outside of Brooklyn, several observers of the race said. 

It’s a coalition that would be reminiscent of former City Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s path to victory in 2013, which aligned progressives, the Brooklyn delegation and labor with support from then-incoming Mayor Bill de Blasio. Whether and how Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani gets involved in this year’s speaker race is a major open question.

One sign that Brooklyn might be able to overcome any internal division: even Bichotte Hermelyn and outgoing Council Member Justin Brannan are aligned on wanting a united Brooklyn, and stood together at a Brooklyn Democrats party at Somos, she said. Brannan doesn’t have a vote in the next speaker election – nor does Bichotte Hermelyn, for that matter – but the two local foes’ unity was symbolic.

“Seeing all different ideologies in front, holding hands, and fighting for Brooklyn is definitely something that as the county leader I want to maintain,” Bichotte Hermelyn said. “The only way we’re going to vote as a bloc is that everybody agrees amongst themselves that whatever candidate we have, they will be OK with.”