Brooklyn Community Board 7 Chair Launches City Council Bid

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The chair of Brooklyn's Community Board 7 has thrown his hat in the ring to replace Council Member Carlos Menchaca, whose seat will be vacant when his term ends next year.

César Zúñiga, who has led Community Board 7 since 2018, became at least the fourth person in the race for the District 38 seat when he officially launched his campaign on Tuesday.

The board chair and early childhood educator pointed to issues of inequality exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic in his decision to run.

“These are not ‘normal’ times, and we need leadership that recognizes the urgency of the situation and the need to address the reality of the present moment,” Zúñiga said in a release.

Zúñiga led the community board — which oversees Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace, Greenwood Heights and a slice of Park Slope — during a critical time for the neighborhoods as a historic rezoning of the private Industry City complex faced local officials.

The news of his campaign came the same day that Industry City decided to pull its application.

Zúñiga, who has lived in Brooklyn for nearly 20 years, pointed to issues of inequality in education, housing and access to jobs as priorities for the district.

“This campaign is committed to ensuring safe and affordable housing, quality education and safe re-opening of our schools, support for our workers, and an equitable city budgeting process," he said.

He joins fellow Democrats Alexa Aviles, Rodrigo Camarena and Whitney Hu in the race for the term-limited council seat, according to the Brooklyn Reporter. District 38 stretches across Red Hook, Sunset Park, Greenwood Heights and portions of Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park.