While there’s a huge focus on the New York City mayoral race, residents in Manhattan are also voting for their City Council representatives — though there’s not nearly as much drama attached to these contests.

Democrats dominate the Manhattan City Council districts, and most of the competitive races already happened within the party during the June primary. Still, a number of lawmakers are facing challenges from Republican, Conservative and independent candidates. 

Those elected to represent Manhattan in the City Council will be tasked to introduce and vote on bills, negotiate and approve the City’s budget, monitor city agencies, and make decisions about major land use projects.

Here is a brief run-down on the candidates, backgrounds, priorities and plans or at least hopes for New York City and their neighborhood, including races with no incumbent and in some cases with no challenger.

To learn more about each of the candidates, visit the Campaign Finance Bureau’s Voter Guide at nyccfb.info. To find your local polling place, visit vote.nyc.

District 1
Communities: Financial District-Battery Park City, Tribeca-Civic Center, The Battery-Governors Island-Ellis Island-Liberty Island, SoHo-Little Italy-Hudson Square, Chinatown-Two Bridges, Lower East Side

Incumbent Christopher Marte (Democratic Party, Working Families Party), is running against Helen Qiu on the Republican and Conservative Party tickets. Marte founded Neighbors United Below Canal and has been affiliated with the Grand Street Democrats and the Downtown Independent Democrats. In the Campaign Finance Bureau’s Voter Guide, Marte lists as his three top priorties anti-displacement programs, Hhealthcare and workers’ rights and climate change.

Qiu earned a bachelor’s degree from Zhongshan University in 1990, and graduate degrees from the Reformed Seminary in 2007 and Columbia University in 2010. She has worked as a pastor, teacher, engineer, and engineering manager and been affiliated with the New York City Education Council. Her top issues are preventing the release of repeat criminal offenders, removing useless scaffolding from NYCHA buidlings, and building the Park Row Conveyor Belt and Shop.

District 2 
Communities: Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, East Village, Midtown South-Flatiron-Union Square, Gramercy, Murray Hill-Kips Bay

Assembly Member Harvey Epstein (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) is facing Jason Murillo (Republican Party, Conservative Party) and two third-party candidates: Gail Schargel (CleanSafeStreet Party) and Allie Ryan (Unity Party) for the seat held by Carlina Rivera, who was term-limited and resigned from office in August..

Epstein has represented the 74th Assembly District since 2018. His top issues are building affordable housing, addressing mental health and public safety, and ensuring environmental justice.

Murillo is an independent media producer and community advocate who has been an election inspector and programming director. He lists his top issues as public safety, public housing and tenant rights, and fiscal responsibility.

District 3
Communities: SoHo-Little Italy-Hudson Square, West Village, Chelsea-Hudson Yards, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown South-Flatiron-Union Square, Midtown-Times Square

Democratic incumbent Erik Bottcher is running against Dominick Romeo (A Blue Collar Party, Fight and Deliver Party). Bottcher describes himself as a “public servant and activist” who grew up in a small town in the Adirondack Mountains as the only gay person he knew. He went on to serve as LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS Community Liaison in the City Council’s community outreach unit and as statewide LGBTQ Community Liaison in the governor’s office.

Romeo describes himself as a third-generation Hell’s Kitchenite now living in Chelsea and a building superintendent who “always fought for his neighborhood.“ Called an “Activist Superintendent” by The New York Post for creating a building superintendents and porters group, he is also a member of ACT UP.

District 4
Communities: Midtown South-Flatiron-Union Square, Midtown-Times Square, Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, Murray Hill-Kips Bay, East Midtown-Turtle Bay, United Nations, Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill

Virginia Maloney (Democratic Party) is running against Kyle Athayde (Revive East Side Party) for the 4th Council District seat held by the term-limited Keith Powers. Maloney, the daughter of long-time former US Rep. Carolyn Maloney, is a product manager born and raised on Manhattan’s East Side who said she will “fight for a safer, more affordable New York.” Her priorities are housing and homelessness, public safety and government accountability.

Athayde is the director of external affairs and operations for South Brooklyn Health, a first-generation American and longtime community leader who was homeless as a child. He calls himself “the youngest, most qualified and battle-tested candidate” who will fight with “common sense, so that we can Revive the East Side.”

A third candidate it the race, Debra Schwartzben (Republican), is on the ballot, but has previously suspended her campaign.

District 5
Communities: East Midtown-Turtle Bay, United Nations, Upper East Side-Lenox Hill-Roosevelt Island, Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side-Yorkville 

Democratic incumbent Julie Menin is seeking a second term in office against Republican challenger and Yorkville resident Alina Bonsell.

Menin said her priorities include quality of life and affordability, public safety and sanitation and improving public schools and child care. She said she increased affordable housing, added NYPD foot patrols, increased trash pickup and created a rat mitigation program. 

Bonsell said her priorities include “stopping socialism” in City Hall. She wants to reform what she sees as an unjust family court, reopen New York State mental institutions, and convert vacant space to housing. 

District 6
Communities: Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown-Times Square, Upper West Side-Lincoln Square, Upper West Side (Central), Central Park

Nobody can beat incumbent Gale Brewer this year, because nobody’s running against her. The long-time veteran of the Manhattan political scene and former borough president is unopposed in the general election.

District 7
Communities: Upper West Side (Central), Upper West Side-Manhattan Valley, Morningside Heights, Manhattanville-West Harlem, Hamilton Heights-Sugar Hill, Washington Heights (South), Upper West Side-Manhattan Valley

Incumbent Shaun Abreu (Democratic Party, Working Families Party), Republican Jomo M. Williams and Edafe Okporo (West Side United Party) are vying for this seat.

Abreu said that he achieved “real results with historic legislation and hard-fought budget wins” with priorities including affordable housing, clean and safe streets, and health and mental health care. 

Williams was born in Manhattan and served in the United States Army in 2020. Okporo is CEO Refuge America and author who led NYC’s first shelter for LGBTQ asylum seekers and helped resettle Afghan refugees through Operation Allies Welcome under the Biden administration. 

District 8
Communities: Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side-Yorkville, East Harlem (South), East Harlem (North), Randall’s Island, and areas of the south Bronx.

Elsie Encarnacion (Democratic Party, Working Families Party), Tyreek Goodman (Republican Party, Conservative Party) and Federico Colon (Unity Party) are competing for the right to succeed the term-limited Diana Ayala as the voice of the 8th District.

Encarnacion cites priorities such as expanding affordable housing, investing in youth development and stabilizing struggling New Yorkers. A community advocate, she is a former community board member and parent coordinator. 

Goodman said his top issues include creating jobs and economic opportunity, and boosting community safety. He has worked as a front desk agent and auditor at Marriott’s Fairfield Inn & Suites in Brooklyn and as an overnight manager.

Colon cites senior care, protecting Medicaid, and increasing child care as his top priorities.

District 9
Communities: Morningside Heights, Manhattanville-West Harlem, Hamilton Heights-Sugar Hill, Harlem (South), Harlem (North), East Harlem (South), East Harlem (North), Upper West Side-Manhattan Valley

Incumbent Yusef Salaam is running unopposed to the seat he was first elected in 2023. 

District 10
Communities: Kingsbridge-Marble Hill, Washington Heights (South), Washington Heights (North), Inwood, Highbridge Park, Inwood Hill Park

Carmen De La Rosa (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) is running for re-election against Louisa Flores (Republican) and Francesca Castellanos (Unity Party).

De La Rosa, who was elected to the City Council in 2023,  wants to “dismantle fundamental flaws” in the criminal justice system, expand social safety nets, and fix a “broken education system.”  Castellanos, a former case worker who is self-employed, lists as her top priorities stopping housing insecurity, improving public safety and creating a greener NYC. 

Flores has no website or information on sites that monitor elections.