West Village City Council Race: Who Will Succeed Corey Johnson?

WEST VILLAGE, NY — For the first time since 2013, the West Village will have somebody other than Corey Johnson representing them in City Council.

In 2021, there is a field of six candidates vying for Manhattan's 3rd District seat, which also covers Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, and parts of Flatiron, SoHo, and the Upper West Side.

The candidates range from Corey Johnson's chief of staff, to a lawyer with a long resume of activism, to a journalist that has published articles for CNN and ESPN.

Three of the six candidates have raised over $30,000 in campaign funds as of Tuesday — one of which has raised over $100,000.

Here's more information on the six candidates.

Leslie Boghosian

• Private Money Raised: $30,771
• Public Money Raised: $0
• Money Spent: $2,080
• Boghosian is an NYC native and reporter who has lived in Hell's Kitchen for the past 16 years. She made her name in the journalism world by focusing on stories around children's immigration rights and minors who were given life without parole sentences. Boghosian currently serves on Community Board 4 and is an active member of her NYPD Community Council.

Erik Bottcher

• Private Money Raised: $133,080
• Public Money Raised: $160,444
• Money Spent: $49,392
• Bottcher is no stranger to New York City politics. He started his public service career in 2009 as the LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS Community Liaison at the New York City Council, where he organized grassroots campaigns. Two years later, he joined Gov. Andrew Cuomo's team to help fight for marriage equality in New York State. In 2015, he became the chief of staff for Council Member Corey Johnson as his chief of staff.

Phelan-Dante Fitzpatrick

• Private Money Raised: $15,913
• Public Money Raised: $0
• Money Spent: $4,920
• Fitzpatrick is the owner of two small businesses within District 3, and on March 13 he had to close three locations and furlough 36 employees. He is centering his platform around that experience as a small-business owner, and is committed to improving high-quality public education in the neighborhood and giving more support to closed restaurants and art institutions.

Marni Halasa

• Private Money Raised: $15,995
• Public Money Raised: $0
• Money Spent: $9,329
• Halasa has lived in either Chelsea or Hell's Kitchen for the past 28 years and has served as a small-business owner, community activist, figure skating coach, and lawyer. Her advocacy history has centered around tenants rights, pushing independent contracts to form collectives, and getting ordinary people to become politically engaged.

Aleta LaFargue

• Private Money Raised: $14,786
• Public Money Raised: $0
• Money Spent: $9,329
• LaFargue describes herself as a mother, community organizer, activist, actress, education advocate and champion of the arts. She is a lifelong resident of Hell's Kitchen and has served as the President of the Manhattan Plaza Tenants Association since 2016. LaFargue is also a founding member of Hell's Kitchen Democrats.

Arthur Schwartz

• Private Money Raised: $40,910
• Public Money Raised: $0
• Money Spent: $47,770
• Outstanding Loan: $20,000
• Schwartz graduated from Bronx HS of Science, and then Columbia University before becoming a lawyer. For the past four decades, he has litigated union democracy cases in the city and has offered himself as council for such social movements as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. Politically, he served as a delegate for Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic Convention and has served as election counsel to Cynthia Nixon, Jumaane Williams, and Mondaire Jones. He was a member of Community Board 2 from 1991 to 2014.