Maloney and Epstein Cross- Endorse Each Other in Their Respective CD Races
Virginia Maloney in CD4 is seeking public office for the first time. Harvey Epstein, a current Assembly member, is running for the seat in CD2 that Carlina Rivera resigned from recently.
| 03 Oct 2025 | 02:53
While it appears that Virginia Maloney is marveling at the sunbeam from the heavens alighting on top of the cranium of Harvey Epstein, it was actually the setting on the morning of Sept. 30 for the two Democratic candidates for City Council to announce they are cross-endorsing each other in their respective races. (
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Debra Lea Schwartzben has a big social media audience and is the Republican candidate in CD4 but is “no longer actively campaigning.” (
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Jason Murillo, aka DJ Loudmouth, the Republican standard bearer in CD2, wants to save NYCHA housing, where he grew up, and “re-fund the police.” (
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Debra Lea Schwartzben is a social media influencer who posts videos and lip syncs. She is the Republican party candidate but the Manhattan Republican Club has been telling sources that she’s no longer campaigning actively. (
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Two Democratic City Council members on the East Side have decided to give a little extra pop to their candidacies by cross-endorsing each other, driven by shared values over “affordability.”
Virginia Maloney is a Meta executive seeking her first public office in City Council District 4, to fill the seat now held by term-limited Keith Powers. State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein is running in CD2 for the seat that Carlina Rivera already exited. They both announced the cross-endorsements.
While it might not be too surprising to endorse another Dem in a neighboring race, it was also interesting who they had not endorsed. Epstein long ago endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor; Maloney demurs and says, “I’m concentrating on my race.”
At a joint press conference on East 15th Street and Second Avenue on the morning of Sept. 30, both candidates tagged “affordability” as the No. 1 issue.
Said Epstein, “Virginia knows how to solve problems and bring people together. She’ll be a collaborative, effective voice on the Council. Together we will fight for our shared progressive values by implementing policies and supporting critical programs. I look forward to her partnership in our fight to expand affordable housing for New Yorkers in need.”
And Maloney was equally effusive in praising the person that she wants on the other side of the CD4/CD2 border. ”He is a fierce advocate for affordable housing, public safety, and climate justice and leads with compassion and a deep commitment to equity. Together, we will fight to protect our most vulnerable neighbors and create a stronger, more affordable New York.”
Maloney, the daughter of former U.S. Representative for New York Carolyn Maloney, already had high recognition as she runs for the seat that covers the neighborhoods of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, then Kips Bay, and Murray Hill west to Times Square and Rockefeller Center before zigzagging north through Sutton Place and Carnegie Hill and the UES, ending with a single block on East 93rd Street.
Epstein, from the moment he swept to victory last year in his bid for re-election to the Assembly, immediately announced he was going to run for the seat held by term-limited Carlina Rivera, who resigned the seat to take a job running the nonprofit New York State Association for Affordable Housing.
Maloney, 37, probably expected to see more of her rival on the Republican ticket, Debra Lea Schwartzben, a 26-year-old TikTok influencer. Schwartzben is a Trump booster and appears frequently as a talking head on Fox and Newsmax, speaking out on conservative issues and occasionally lip-syncing to her 94,000 followers on TikTok.
What she does not appear to be doing is hitting the pavement.
“I have not encountered her on the campaign trail,” said Maloney.
That may be because she is not there. Our East Side Observer columnist, Arlene Kayatt, learned that the Manhattan Republican Club was telling sources that Schwartzben is “no longer actively campaigning.”
Maloney, while she has not quit her day job at Meta, is also busy with campaign field work, an early-morning working breakfast before the press conference, and a Friday-night campaign social that was slated for Bloom on East 58th Street and Third Avenue on Oct. 3.
While Maloney’s main Republican opponent ghosted the race, there is a third-party candidate, Kyle Athayde, a community activist seeking his first legislative office on the Revive the East Side party line.
Jason Murillo, who grew up in a city Housing Authority (NYCHA) home on the Lower East Side, is the Republican candidate in City Council District 2. He’s an attorney who has been a community activist and has a fan following that knows him as “DJ Loudmouth.” His website says he is for “re-funding” the police, saving NYCHA, and ending the socialist takeover of America. Two others are in the hunt as well: Allie Ryan, who tried the Dem party line in the past two primaries as a combative opponent of the East Side Resiliency Project. She is now running on the Unity Party. A fourth candidate in the hunt is Gail Schargel, running on the Clean Safe Streets party.
Whoever wins the Epstein/Murillo/Ryan/Schargel battle will have no time for a transition. Because the seat is now vacant, it will be filled as soon as possible after the Nov. 4 election is certified, rather than the usual swearing-in day on Jan. 1.
“Virginia knows how to solve problems and bring people together. She’ll be a collaborative, effective voice on the Council.” — City Council candidate Harvey Epstein