2025 Primary Election

As District Chief of Staff for Adrienne Adams, Tyrell “Ty” Hankerson has managed her district office while the Speaker is focused on Council matters. Serving the Speaker, he argues, gives him a unique perspective and makes him the only candidate with both experience and knowledge of the district – where he has grown up and worked in for his entire life. He was aligned with all of CU’s reform agenda, except on the question of allowing bills with strong support to bypass the Speaker. He argued that the oversight of the Speaker is necessary in some situations and that a good Speaker that is representative of the Council will act responsibly but also acknowledged that the Speaker’s office has too much power in certain areas, which could be revisited. In response to Citizens Union’s inquiry regarding Airbnb’s outside spending in his favor, Hankerson said he was not in contact with Airbnb and stressed that he stands with the hotel workers union. He acknowledged the ethnic and racial divisions in this district – a successful term for him would amount to making the district “more unified” – and stressed he wants to continue his cross-neighborhood coalition-building that he started in his current role. Hankerson’s experience, professionalism, knowledge of the district’s needs and CU’s reform agenda earns him CU’s preference in this race.

Singh is an energetic and effective community organizer who runs a mutual-aid organization and a violence interrupter-type group, and also served at the Public. Advocate’s office up until his candidacy. He seeks to be the first Sikh elected to office in New York and bring better representation to a community that he says has been underserved in this district. He says he offers a “new style of politics” that brings people together, and he takes pride in receiving the support of small donors from every community and area of the district. This is his third run for office in this area. Singh agreed with all of CU’s reform agenda. Citizens Union was impressed by his community work and energy, and we rank his second in this race.

Romeo Hitlall is a real estate broker and a community activist. He is the current leader of the Brooklyn & Queens chapter of the Lions Club, where he started volunteering 12 years ago, and has been a Community Board member for 17 years. Hitlall opposed several items on CU’s reform agenda, including open primaries and even year elections, and reiterated his opposition during his interview. He emphasizes being “the people’s candidate” and provides an outsider’s critique of the City Council. Citizens Union ranks him third in this race.