Retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez has endorsed Carl Wilson in Manhattan’s District 3 special election, deepening her public break with Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the two progressives back rival candidates.
Velázquez, who represented Brooklyn and Queens in Congress for decades before announcing her retirement, called Wilson a true grassroots candidate in a statement released Monday. The endorsement lands in the final stretch of a closely watched race to fill the West Side City Council seat left open by Erik Bottcher, covering Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village.
“I know a true grassroots candidate when I see one, and Carl Wilson is exactly that kind of leader,” Velázquez said. “Carl has spent years on the ground doing the work, building trust block by block, and earning the broad local support that only comes from showing up for your community again and again.”
She didn’t stop there. “Communities deserve representatives who have put in the work long before Election Day, not just during campaign season. We also need more working people and gig workers in government who understand the realities New Yorkers face every day,” she added.
Wilson ran as Bottcher’s chief of staff before launching his own bid. He’s centered his campaign on affordability, transit, quality-of-life issues and preserving LGBTQ representation in a district that includes the Stonewall Inn and has sent out gay lawmakers for decades.
His endorsement list had already grown long. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Comptroller Mark Levine, current Council Speaker Julie Menin, and former speakers Christine Quinn and Corey Johnson all back him. Bottcher himself is in Wilson’s corner. Velázquez’s name adds a new dimension, one that speaks directly to the progressive credentials contest playing out between Wilson and his chief rival.
That rival is Lindsey Boylan.
Mamdani endorsed Boylan on Friday, drawing a hard line between his coalition and the more traditional Manhattan Democratic network lining up behind Wilson. The mayor’s move transformed an already competitive race into something closer to a proxy war, with two camps of progressive New York politics now pulling in opposite directions over a single West Side council seat.
Boylan first gained national attention in 2021 when she accused then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, which he denied. She’s run in District 3 on a platform of universal child care, affordable housing and tenant protections, and Mamdani’s backing gives her a powerful institutional anchor as the race enters its final days.
Wilson clearly wants voters to see Velázquez’s support as a counterweight. He responded to the endorsement by invoking her longtime nickname directly. “I’m incredibly proud to have the endorsement of La Luchadora,” Wilson said, using the Spanish term for “The Fighter” that’s followed Velázquez throughout her career.
He kept going. “Congresswoman Velázquez is a fearless progressive leader who has never backed down from fighting for working people. Her endorsement is a call to action in the final week of our campaign,” Wilson said. “Together, we’re building a movement to deliver bold, transformative change from truly affordable housing and stronger tenant protections to good union jobs and a city that works for everyone.”
The rift between Velázquez and Mamdani isn’t new, though the District 3 race is making it harder to ignore. The two have backed competing candidates in a growing number of contests across the city, and amNewYork’s coverage of the Wilson endorsement puts Velázquez squarely in opposition to the mayor’s chosen candidate for the second consecutive high-profile race this spring.
What makes District 3 different from the others is the weight of its local history. The seat has been held by openly gay elected officials for years, and the neighborhood’s identity as a home for LGBTQ New Yorkers carries real political meaning for residents and donors alike. Wilson’s backers say his record and relationships in the district make him the natural heir to that tradition.
Boylan’s supporters argue that transformational change on child care and housing requires the kind of top-down institutional push that Mamdani’s endorsement signals. The two candidates have drawn a genuine contrast in both style and political home base, even as they share significant policy overlap on affordability and tenant rights.
The special election to fill Bottcher’s seat is scheduled for late spring. With Velázquez now formally behind Wilson and Mamdani firmly behind Boylan, the final week of campaigning figures to test which brand of progressive politics carries more weight with West Side Democratic voters.