Retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez threw her support behind Carl Wilson in Manhattan’s District 3 special election Monday, sharpening a public split with Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the two progressives back competing candidates for the same West Side seat.
Velázquez spent decades representing Brooklyn and Queens in Congress before announcing her retirement. She didn’t hold back in her statement, calling Wilson the real thing. “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 went further: “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.”
The seat Wilson’s chasing was held by Erik Bottcher, whose district takes in Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village. Bottcher isn’t just neutral here. He’s backing Wilson, his former chief of staff. Wilson’s campaign has assembled a notable coalition: Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Comptroller Mark Levine, Council Speaker Julie Menin and former speakers Christine Quinn and Corey Johnson are all on his list. Velázquez’s endorsement adds a different kind of weight, one aimed squarely at the progressive credibility argument that’s become central to this race.
That argument matters because of what Mamdani did Friday. The mayor endorsed Wilson’s chief rival, Lindsey Boylan, cutting a sharp line between his political network and the more established Manhattan Democratic world coalescing around Wilson. It’s not really a council race anymore. It’s closer to a proxy fight between two strains of left-leaning New York politics, playing out over 3 square miles of the West Side.
Boylan isn’t a minor figure. She drew national attention in 2021 when she accused then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, allegations he denied. Her District 3 platform centers on universal child care, affordable housing and tenant protections. Mamdani’s backing gives her a powerful institutional lift heading into the final stretch.
Wilson clearly wants voters to read Velázquez’s endorsement as the counterweight. He leaned into her nickname, hard. “I’m incredibly proud to have the endorsement of La Luchadora,” Wilson said, invoking the Spanish word for “The Fighter” that’s trailed Velázquez throughout her career in Congress.
He didn’t stop at the nickname. “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.
On the policy vision he’s running on, Wilson was direct: “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.”
Wilson’s campaign has centered on affordability, transit quality-of-life concerns and preserving LGBTQ representation in a district that’s sent out gay lawmakers for years and includes the Stonewall Inn. That last point is a significant piece of his pitch: he’s argued the seat’s history demands a candidate who reflects it.
Velázquez’s break with Mamdani is worth noting on its own. Both have long credibility with the city’s progressive left, and their opposing bets on this race signal something about where different corners of that coalition are headed. The mayor’s Friday endorsement of Boylan was a deliberate move, and Velázquez’s Monday counter wasn’t accidental either.
amNewYork’s coverage of the Wilson endorsement has additional detail on the sequence of events leading up to the announcement.
The special election is days away. Both camps are pressing hard, and neither side is pretending this is anything other than what it is.