The Campaign Finance Board Made a $6.85 Million Mistake in Its Voters Guide

Voter Guide snafu–In a recent column Campaign Finance Flyers Contain Errors, I pointed out that the Campaign Finance Board’s Voter Guide contained errors, chief among them erroneously listing Eric Adams as a Democrat running in the June 24th primary, when in fact he dropped out of that race to run as an independent candidate in November. I also noted the guide was sent to me and to a resident unknown and unrelated to me at the same address and apartment number. He hasn’t lived there for maybe 25 years. As a follow up, CFB sent out an oversized post card titled Your Democratic Candidates for the 2025 New York City Primaries. A tagline at the bottom explained You’re receiving this mailer to amend an error in the Voter guide listing Eric Adams as a Democratic primary candidate. The mailer had photos of the candidates alongside their names. A badge check mark appeared alongside the name of each candidate who was “participating in NYC’s matching funds program, which helps candidates rely on New York City residents–not special interests–to fund their campaign.” Eleven names were listed, including Paperboy Love Prince and Dr. Selma Bartholomew. Never heard about them during the campaign.

Politico, a political news site has also been closely following the Voter Guide snafu since late May, said it was going to cost $6.85 million to send the corrections to the 3.5 million voters.

St. Louis on a roll–The vote’s underway. Rank your picks. Or rank just one. Voting’s the goal. I’ve noticed that St. Louis taken on a bigly role in NYC politics. Think Brad Lander for Mayor. Rachel Storch for City Council District 4. And restaurateur Danny Meyer. Meyer’s among the opinion experts who chose Lander as the “top overall choice for Mayor.” Back to Manhattan Upper East Side CD 4’s six candidate race, which until the last week had been one of the most civilized, non-invective campaigns that I can remember. Shout out to all– Vanessa Aronson, Faith Bondy, Lukas Florczak, Rachel Storch, Virginia Maloney, and Ben Wetzler.

In spirit of ranking - CD 4 candidates are showing their preferences - Storch and Bondy are cross endorsing each other. Vanessa Aronson and Ben Wetzler are cross endorsing each other. Each is asking voters to rank them number 1 and the other number 2. No cross endorsing involving Virginia Maloney or Lukas Florczak that I’ve heard about although in the waning days of the campaign, we hear former Congress woman Carolyn Maloney, mother of Virginia, bumped into Florczak and suggested the two should cross endorse.

Since March 2024, when Ben Wetzler announced that he was running for what would be Keith Powers term-limited CD4 seat, I’ve covered the race which has grown to six candidates. It’s been an issue-oriented campaign. Now, it’s down to the wire and I’ve reached out to the candidates for comment about the role of their significant other in their life while campaigning. Here’s the edited responses.

From Reid Aronson, Vanessa’s husband: “Vanessa’s superpower is the way she connects with people. It’s been a joy to watch people across the district get to know how deeply she cares about learning people’s stories and making their lives better. And now that our oldest son gets to be part of it too, it’s even more meaningful.”

From Lauren Trapanotto, Ben Wetzler’s partner: “Ben and I met in 2017 through Four Freedoms Democratic Club. We had a shared passion to get involved in local politics after the Trump election. We’ve supported each other through our own election wins–Ben’s six-year term as District Leader and my four years as NYS Democratic Committee member–and through countless hours of Ben’s campaigning for City Council, District 4.

Hard to believe that another urban staple is on its way out. I’m talking International News & Magazines, a small storefront that’s been on the Upper East Side at 302 E. 86th St for at least 30 years. By the end of this month, it will be gone. Rent’s too high and their license to sell lottery tickets and cigarettes won’t be renewed. If there’s more to the story, I don’t know. Personally, I’m sad and appalled that we’re losing another small business in our town. And that’s before I get to losing another neighborhood resource to buy print newspapers (national, international) and print magazines.

Next loss happening is Kaia Wine Bar, the South African restaurant that’s been a neighborhood and beyond favorite for 15 years on Third Ave between E. 88th and E. 89th Sts. But at least it is getting to relocate.

Through Covid and every imaginable inconvenience, owner Suzann Hauptfleisch kept Kaia up and running. The good news is that Kaia’s moving to the 70s on 1st Ave located on the same street as the popular Afghan Kabab restaurant which had to relocate from its 2nd Ave location several years ago.

Kaia will be missed in its old neighborhood, where it was a vibrant restaurant and a good neighbor. I’m really going to miss the lively street dining, charm, great food and wine that Kaia’s brought to the neighborhood through the years. Kaia’s was paying an outsize rent for a small restaurant. The renewal rent was not doable. And the myriad of problems relating to the space would still exist. But at least it will live to feed us another day.

Here’s to Cheers and Proost to Kaia at the new location.