According to Haller’s campaign, the two have collaborated on local issues and have a shared understanding of the urgency of the climate crisis. Haller previously worked with the senator, having provided Biaggi’s campaign with an environmental policy platform, and in doing so helped to topple the The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) in 2018.

 

The IDC, led by former Bronx State Sen. Jeff Klein, was a group of eight New York State senators who were elected to office as Democrats but who formed a coalition with Republicans, blocking most progressive legislation in New York State for over seven years.

 

As reported by The New York Times, in the Sept. 13, 2018 Democratic primary, after an unprecedented grassroots campaign, six IDC senators, including Klein, were defeated by progressive challengers backed by the group, No IDC NY, including Biaggi now representing New York’s 34th senatorial district, and who succeeded Klein.

 

Haller said that Biaggi allegedly responded to claims by District 11 City Council candidate, Eric Dinowitz, that he helped elect a Democratic majority in the New York State Senate, by calling such a statement a “blatant lie”. Norwood News reached out to the senator to corroborate if this quote is attributable to her. We did not receive an immediate response. We also reached out to Dinowitz’s campaign for comment on Biaggi’s alleged comment.

 

Dinowitz said, “My campaign’s statement referred to my work proudly volunteering as a Democratic district leader and with the United Federation of Teachers to support Democrats, from Gustavo Rivera in 2010 to Shelley Mayer and Todd Kaminsky in special elections, and to James Skoufis, Anna Kaplan and other Democrats in 2018, the latter three being red-to-blue flips where we beat Republicans in competitive districts.”

 

He added, “That is unequivocally how I invested my passion and energy in 2018, and I embrace the new voices that emerged that year. I am proud of the broad progressive coalition of support my campaign has built, and I’m laser focused on the Northwest Bronx’s recovery.”

 

 

 

Haller, whose candidacy was previously profiled by the Norwood News, said she worked previously for MasterCard in the financial services industry. Though there is nothing illegal about it, and though the amounts are not enormous (the largest individual contribution being $1,000) it is perhaps noteworthy that a number of donors to Haller’s campaign have links with the financial services sector, and others to the real estate sector, the latter meaning anyone who either works directly with, or through their work, engages with those who work with property, land and buildings, whether in government or in the public or private sector.

 

These include Liron Gitig of FTV Capital, Herb Hirsch a commercial real estate broker, Barry Aranoff, an accountant, Terry Aranoff, an accountant, Abe Eisenstat, self-employed in finance, Seth Gribetz, self-employed in private equity, Stewart Hackett and Kristen Hackett of Robert E. Hill real estate business, Carmen Marino of The Wellesley Group in the financial services sector,  Daniel Schneider, a consultant at Ernst & Young, Fred Wilson, USV venture capitalist, Howard Wolfson, a consultant at Bloomberg, Brett Cohen an accountant at PwC, David Lowenfeld, a real estate professional, Sherida Paulsen of PKSB Architects, Avery Seavey at Dalton Management Company (property management), David Pollock of Credit karma (a credit rating company), Caroline Berman of Extell Management Company (luxury rentals), Trina Cleeman, self-employed in real estate, Aryeh Goldman of SNL Development Group LLC (real estate), and Joshua Landes, Wynnefield Capital (investment firm).

 

They also include Eric Mannes, a trader at Jane Street (financial services), Karen Trebach an analyst at Fitch Ratings, Sean Trebach, self-employed in real estate, Daniel Cohen who works in the affordable housing sector for Housing Partnerships, Michael Davis, self-employed in real estate, Thomas Flaschen who works in finance at Jane Street, Greg Fragin who works for Ducat Investment Group, Mark Ginsberg, an architect at Curtis & Ginsberg, David Marinoff of Jade Mountain Partners LLC (an investment advisory firm), Ann Schapiro, a real estate broker, Saul Mackler of NYCHA, James Licht, director of operations at Salamon Engineering PLLC, Joshua Minkove at Standard Textile Company, Jonathan Garfunkel, a wealth relationship manager at Citibank, and Ankur Dalal a tax attorney at Société Générale.

 

In addition, they include Jonathan Fish an accountant at PwC, Nadim Kazi, self-employed in real estate, Barie-Lynne Rosensaft, financial analyst at Alvaraz and Marsal, and Awi Salomon, a VP at Speciality Lighting Industries, Benjamin Wetzler, a former employee at NYS Housing Trust Fund Corporation, a public benefit corporation controlled by the State government, who now works as a public policy specialist in the research office at the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal, Larron Win, chief of health & safety at NYC Department of Enterprise & Development, Roberta Barnett, whose focus is on social services work at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Nicholas Oo, financial analyst at The Invus Group (investment management), Mike Pinney, a real estate agent at Signature Partners, David Rendsburg a finance director at Hazon, Sandra Rocks, an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, a legal firm specializing in financial services, Alexia Nararian, a consultant at Bloomberg, Daniel Goldberg Gradess, an attorney at Dechert LLP, a legal firm specializing in financial services, and Steven Hershman, an accountant.

 

This represents approximately 50 donors out of a total of 733 donations. Some donors contributed more than once.

 

Candidates were required to gather a minimum number of signatures from local residents in order to qualify for the ballot in the special election. As reported by the Norwood News, that minimum had been 450 signatures until Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Jan. 7 that he was reducing it to 315.

 

Some candidates had raised concerns about the impact of the signature collection process on people’s health, and had called for for the minimum signature requirement to be waived amid fears of exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus through mass person-to-person contact. Haller and fellow female candidate, Lora, each announced at separate stages that they had each previously contracted the virus.

 

Meanwhile, social worker and adjunct Columbia professor, Abigail Martin, and male district leader in the 80th Assembly District, Marcos Sierra, announced last month that they had dropped out of the March special election, citing health related risks linked to the coronavirus, but said they still plan to participate in the June primary.

 

A Board of Elections public hearing was held on Feb. 4 to assess which candidates had collated the minimum number of signatures needed to proceed. Besides Haller and Lora, according to the New York City Board of Elections and Ballotopedia, there are four other candidates in the District 11 special election race.

 

 

A second BronxNet debate will be hosted by BronxTalk host, Gary Axelbank, and will be aired on Monday, March 15, at 9 p.m. on Optimum channel 67, and Fios channel 2133.

The Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 11 (and in District 15) who wish to vote by mail. Further information can be found here or by calling the Bronx Board of Elections at (718) 299-9017 and selecting Ext. 1875. Polls are open on election day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Early Voting Period is from March 13, 2021 to March 21, 2021. Voters must vote at their assigned early voting site.